Ninth Castellan
by CastellanSalazar
Summary: A young woman gets a note through the mail that she has to come to Spain to fulfill her family's duties. Problem is, she knows no one in Spain. Her trip brings her deep into a mysterious cult. AU
1. The Beginning

_A/N: This is the first time I've ever made a fan fiction…EVER!__ I do apologize if it's not properly set up or made how you're accustomed to, but I will indeed try my hardest. I love Resident Evil 4 and I plan on doing it justice. This is sort of a what-if after the incidents of Resident Evil 4. I like the character Salazar a lot, if you can't tell by my penname. I always wondered to myself what exactly happened to the castle after he got killed in the game and whose hands it would fall into next. The person I chose I hope to be rather __unexpected. A slight warning is, although I have taken Spanish for three years, I might not know enough for it to make much sense. I do apologize!_

_Please read and enjoy! Comments and critiques are always loved, too!_

_Resident Evil © Capcom._

The Beginning

"Hey, Shorty! Will ya move it?!" the man shoved the short figure away from him on the crowded and people-infested sidewalk as he vanished into the throng of city dwellers.

"Yea, thanks a lot…"the "Shorty" in question was a young college student. She stood no taller than 4'8" and had pale blond hair that had been expertly cut into a short 'do with overhanging bangs that covered her bright blue eyes. She wiped the incriminating dust off her black shirt where the hurried man had touched her as she vanished into a book store to find a moment's peace from the loud and busy streets of New York City. It was always a relief for the diminutive woman to hide herself amongst a pile of books that let her escape her dull and boring lifestyle. Her current passion was to grab books of foreign countries and read about the cultures and customs of places that she'd probably never visit in her lifetime. Grabbing a book on China and one on Europe off a shelf that was easily accessible to her, she curled up into a corner with the large tomes on her lap.

"Salazar, you gonna buy those books or not?" a slightly chubby man with graying hair and a red face stared at the startled woman through bifocal lenses. The woman narrowed her eyes a bit as she returned the stare through dark sunglasses. She had been visiting this bookstore for at least two years, but the grumpy manager always refused to call her by her first name. Her reply was subtle," Will you _please_ call me Lenore and I'll buy one of these books when I'm through." She watched as the manager finally broke eye contact with her as she resumed devoting attention to the pictures of Beijing and the magnificent Tower of London. Every fiber in her being yearned to be overseas, away to an exotic locale and a culture unlike her own. "Perhaps," she mused, "Perhaps I'll get my wish."

With a light _thunk, _Lenore placed a book of English castles onto the checkout counter along with a cloth bookmark. The clerk, a young woman with fire-red hair, rung the items up and boredly returned them in a bag to the small Lenore. The silence of the bookstore was quickly replaced by the honking of horns, the distant sound of jackhammers, and the general yelling of angry pedestrians. She easily vanished amongst the tall people as she got shoved left and right until she made it, hair disheveled and glasses askew, to her small studio apartment in downtown Manhattan. Without giving it much thought, Lenore took her keys out of her coat pocket and unlocked the mailbox. She grabbed the usual bills, junk mail, and game magazine as she hurried up the stairs to her third floor apartment. She tossed the stuff into a cushy grey chair in one messy pile as she disappeared into the kitchen to grab a soda. Blue eyes flickered towards the beeping red messages that were on her answering machine. Lenore set the sunglasses aside to press the small button.

"You have…3 messages," the answering machine robotically told her," To listen to the messages please pre-"The woman didn't even let the machine finish as she punched another button down. She took a seat on her stepping stool as she listened to who she had missed while she had been out.

"Lenore!"She chuckled at the voice. Apparently it was her brother, "Where were ya at today?! We were going to go to Jean's for dinner! Did ya forget?!" Lenore sheepishly grinned while she nodded her head. It had slipped her mind. Jean was her mother's friend and almost like an aunt to her. Ever since her and her brother, Tom, were young they had always went to visit Miss Jean every third Wednesday for a home cooked meal. _Jean's gonna kill me,_ Lenore thought as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"If this is the residence of Lenore Salazar, please continue to listen while we tell you of our great offer." It was a stupid machine. It didn't take Lenore anytime before she had already deleted the message. "Ugh, I don't want to hear your 'great offer.' Last time I got a 'great offer,' I about sold my soul to a timeshare," she slurped on her soda as she pressed the button to listen to the final message.

"_Necesitamos__ Lenore Salazar…__Tus__ primo Senor Ramon es muerte.Tu ses la Castellan de Nueve!!"_Lenore let the drink in her hand slide far enough to where it had dropped, spilling the dark carbonated beverage all over her shoes and the floor. Who in the hell had gotten her number and what were they talking about?! She hardly knew Spanish, let alone knew someone who fluently spoke it. "Feh," Lenore was trying her best to not act nervous, "Pro'lly a prank caller."

She exited the kitchen feeling a bit jittery as she went to sort through her mail. That would be one sure-fire way to get her to let that odd call disappear into the recesses of her mind. She kicked her small shoes off and sank into her cushy couch. Lenore grinned at the video game magazine that her brother had subscribed her to for her birthday. She'd flip through that later. "Junk, junk, bill, scam…"Lenore's voice trailed off as she looked at the black envelope that was in her hand. In bright red wax on the back was this strange insignia. It seemed like it came from some odd religion or something of that sort. The front of the envelope had no return address, just her name and address in bright red letters. She raised a pale blond eyebrow as she tore through the wax seal on the back. "Ow," she remarked, sucking on her right pointer finger. In her anxiousness to get to the letter on the inside, she had gotten a paper cut. Using her left hand to get the letter out of the envelope, she simply stared in disbelief at what the letter said.

_Senorita Salazar,_

_With the death of your cousin, Ramon, we have searched his family tree to see that you are next in line to be the Ninth Castellan. Our leader has insisted that we bring you back to Spain to allow you to come back to your family's castle. __We shall insure you the safest route of travel and escort you to Spain in our own private airplane. Your presence is requested at the airport November 10, 2007 at 12 noon sharp. We expect to see you and there will be no exceptions._

The letter was short, sweet, and to the point. Lenore had trouble believing that her family owned a castle. Hell, she grew up poor. She reclined back in the sofa, a slight smirk on her face as she mused, "I will not leave your 'leader' waiting, whoever you all are." It was very odd that there was no name, no hint at who the person wrote that "they" were. Lenore found it suspicious, but her sense of adventure would not allow her to live the rest of her life without knowing what awaited her back in the Salazar castle in Spain. She casually glanced at the calendar, her eyes about bugging out of her head. The date on the letter said November 10! That was tomorrow. Panicked, Lenore threw the letter to the ground to scour her closet for suitcases and the proper supplies to bring for the trip.

* * *

_Well, the first chapter's finished. It's a tad bit short, but I don't think it's too bad for the introduction of the main character. I based Lenore off myself, but her attitude will be a little more outspoken than my highly reserved nature. I plan on bringing some characters of Resident Evil 4 back from the dead __to progress the story along in future chapters, so don't immediately close your mind off to say that who died in the game, are still dead in this story._

_Expect the story to start picking up soon! Please read and review! _

_Sincerely,_

_Castellan Salazar_


	2. The Flight

_A/N: Shuh-wing! I plan to have a bit more substance to this story. Lenore's going to slowly start developing as a character in this chapter since this one will finally involve the wicked Los Illuminados we have all come to love and hate. _

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

The Flight

The snow had started falling late last night and had covered New York City in a grey blanket of heavy clouds. It hadn't stopped the city in the least bit; however, as the same noises of the congested metropolis woke the sleepy Lenore up. She had disappeared amongst her pink and brown blankets, the only sign that was visible she was in there was a human-shaped lump. Giving a groan and a mighty yawn, she pulled her small frame out of the bed. The excitement and odd news from the night before had made it hard for her to sleep, and she had just managed to nod off at 2 in the morning. It was 10 am now and Lenore knew she'd have to rush to prepare herself to her flight to Spain. She had hurriedly packed two oversized suitcases full of clothes, entertainment, and other miscellaneous goods the night before. She was prepared for anything.

Lenore stepped into the steamy shower to get a proper cleaning before the plane ride. Her mind wandered to what they meant by "Ninth Castellan." It probably meant something along the lines of a duke or duchess, and she grinned happily into the hot beads of water. She couldn't wait to hear the reactions that she'd get from her family and friends when she'd tell them that she was the Duchess of Spain. She let loose a laugh to signify her delight, something she didn't do too much. Lenore hated her laugh; it was so annoying and quite a disruption whenever she was watching a ridiculously funny movie. But no one was around, so she let her cackle continue for a few seconds longer until the Green Tea and Lavender shampoo got into her eyes. "Ee hee hee ha-ha—Ow!" Lenore turned the showerhead off as she stepped out of the shower, rubbing the shampoo bubbles away. She pulled on her black pinstripe pants and vest, a lovely long-sleeved black shirt was set beneath the vest. If she was travelling, she was going to do it in style.

_**Buh**__**-RING! Buh-RING!**_

Lenore had just finish blowing dry her platinum blond hair as the bangs on the left side of her face fell lazily over her left eye. Hearing the sound of the phone, she dashed out of the small bathroom and picked it up. It was already 10:45 and she needed to get to the airport as soon as possible. "H-hello?" she asked shyly.

"_Buenes tardes, Senorita Salazar,"_ the gruff voice said over the phone. Lenore immediately noted it as the person that had left the message on her answering machine last night. The man continued slowly, trying his best to continue the rest in English, "Look for the men in the robes. We shall be the ones to bring you to _Espana."_

"Okay…"Lenore's voice trailed off as the man on the other line hung up to leave the girl with the sound of a dial tone. She set the phone down on the receiver, wondering what she got herself into. She grabbed a long black coat and threw it over the rest of the ensemble she was wearing. She plucked the black leather fanny pack off her night stand and clipped it to her waist. She knew that fanny packs had died out in the 80's, but that was a fad she was going to hang on to until she died. Grunting a bit, she picked the two suitcases up and left the apartment, ready to discover what was lying in wait for her overseas in Europe.

How the 4'8" woman managed to drag two heavy suitcases that weighed half as much as she did down three flights of stairs was better left to the imagination. What was known was that she was trying futily to hail a cab to bring her to the airport. The first three cabs she had tried flagging down simply passed by her as if she didn't exist. The other two stopped farther down and picked up two gentlemen. "Hrmph," she grumbled irritably, "I need to go as soon as possible! Come on!" Her foot struck a suitcase at about the same time a bright yellow cab pulled up beside her. The driver, a black-haired man, smiled good naturedly at the diminutive girl. He got out of the taxi and helped Lenore put the suitcases in the trunk.

"Where ya goin', missy?" he asked her as they had both slid into their respective seats. Lenore shook small snowflakes out of her hair as she replied quietly," I need to get to the closest airport as soon as possible."

"Gotcha," the man said, putting his foot on the gas and once again joining the hectic traffic of the Big Apple. Lenore leaned back in the seat, her mind travelling to Spain. Never before had she even gave a care about going there. She knew that her great, great grandfather had come from Spain, but that was about it. Whenever Lenore imagined Europe, she thought about the Buckingham Palace or the beautiful city of Paris. Madrid and Mallorca had never been on the top of her list for cities to visit. The snow continued to lightly fall overhead, giving the city a very ethereal appearance. People outside on the streets had bundled up in heavy coats, their rosy red cheeks giving a sign of how cold it was outside. Wool caps and beanies were on dozens of heads, and earmuffs as well. Lenore smiled to herself as the cab came to a gentle stop outside the large airport.

The driver helped Lenore haul the luggage out of the back after the girl had paid him. She nodded her thanks as she heaved the massive cases into the building. Businessmen ran to and fro to catch up with their latest flights. The sounds of delayed planes and just boarding planes could be heard overhead. As Lenore set the cases down to let her arms rest, her eyes went over the crowds of travelers, trying to find the men in robes that the person was talking about. She sunk into a chair, her feet dangling in the air where she wasn't tall enough to touch the floors. She looked down at her feet for a few moments, trying to debate what flight she'd be taking off in.

_"__Aqui__,"_ a deep voice came from behind Lenore as she gave a slight squeak of fright, nearly falling off her chair. It was indeed a man in a robe; a full out habit with a heavy hood over his face to be exact. What she saw of his mouth and face was they were corpse white. He stood with his shoulders ever so lightly hunched and an impatient look in the way he was standing.

_"__Vamos__…__ahora__," _he said plainly to the wide-eyed woman. Lenore had drew her feet up into the chair as she took to noticing that she wasn't the only one studying this bizarre person. A man that looked to have Indian descent was trying not to make eye contact with Lenore or the hooded man, but failed as she caught his stare. A young child was chewing lightly on his thumb, trying to study the figure when his mother gently steered him away and towards the plane headed towards Memphis.

"Uh...Uh..."Lenore had trouble choking out her words,"You're the person waiting to puh-pick me up?" The robed man only nodded once. She gently slid out of the chair to grab her suitcases when the man easily grabbed them like they weighed nothing. She followed cautiously behind the figure as people made a wide path to avoid brushing up against either the man or Lenore. Her cheeks were flustered in embarrassment at the stares she was getting. Suddenly the robed man came to a quick stop, causing the distracted Lenore to walk into him.

"S-Sorry!" she blurted out when the man turned back to glare at her. He said nothing as he pointed towards a group of three other similarly dressed people. They all wore habits with the hoods drawn halfway over their ghost white faces. The one in the middle was wearing a red robe that had the strange insignia sewn on it in gold that Lenore recalled was put on that envelope addressed to her. She felt her heart beating rapidly as they all approached her. What they did next, she was not expecting. They all gave a deep bow to her, as they repeated her last name. She looked back embarrassedly at the people that started to gather at this peculiar sight. Lenore momentarily hid her face under her small wan hands as she listened to the comments around her.

"Is the circus in town?" one girl commented to her father.

"Halloween's already passed," a businessman said coldly as he walked past the group to get on the plane headed for Greece.

"Look, honey. It's the Franciscan monks with some midget girl," that remark angered Lenore as she finally looked around to see who had said that. Nothing rubbed her the wrong way more than being called a midget. It was hurtful to those of actual dwarf stature, not to mention those that just have petite heights. She sneered slightly as a monk grabbed her by her right wrist.

"Senorita Salazar, we board the plane now," the red robed monk had an almost undecipherable Spanish accent as he spoke,"You follow us to plane. Lord Saddler awaits you in Espana."

Lord Saddler? Lenore rolled that name over on her tongue a few times as she followed behind the monk in red; the other three were carrying her luggage and trailing behind her. Was this Lord Saddler the one that was requesting her to return to Spain? _It had to be_she told herself as she stopped at the same time the monk in red did. She wasn't going to get a creepy glare again. She stared blankly at the plane she was going to be flying overseas in. It was a modest sized private jet that seemed to have been refurbished and painted a dark grey. The same insignia was painted on the wings. She looked up at the monk and pointed," This is the one we're taking?"

_"Si,"_ he told her as he once again took a rough hold of her wrist to pull her aboard. She struggled lightly as she managed to pull her hand out of his cold grasp. She knew how to get on a plane without being flung aboard. She walked up the slim steps and into the interior. The seats were black and the windows were slim. The four monks shoved Lenore unceremoniously to the side as they put her luggage away. Choosing a seat towards the middle, she sunk down into it and buckled up. Something inside her told her that this wasn't going to be a simple flight.

Her instincts were right as she was about thrown backwards into the rough take off. Lenore squinched her eyes shut as the monks simply looked at her and laughed. They seemed to enjoy the American's uncomfortable take-off. She forced herself to filter out the creepy laughing as she peered out the small window of the jet. The ground grew farther and farther away as the jet climbed higher into the sky. The snow gave the land a gentle white outline. Lenore rubbed at her temples to try to get rid of her nausea and after a good thirty minutes in the sky, her queasy stomach had subsided. It was then that she took the time to truly study the passengers in the plane. All four of the monks were mumbling in Spanish amongst themselves, one would occasionally look her way before returning to converse with his fellow monks. Lenore truly hated that she didn't pay closer attention to Spanish in high school as she boredly propped her head on her hand.

Lenore was soon asleep, the gentle sounds of the jet and the feelings of being miles above Earth had sent her off to Slumber land. Little did she know that the monks had been waiting for this opportunity since the young woman had boarded. The head monk had a small black box that he had tucked under his seat now in his lap. The group chuckled quietly as he opened the box, revealing the contents inside. It was an odd-looking syringe with a strange purple fluid inside. A small round object was floating in the depths of the liquid. The monk attached the vial into the silver syringe as he soundlessly made his way over to Lenore. Being as gentle as he could manage, he stuck the long sharp needle into the sleeping Lenore's neck. He pushed a small trigger on the syringe as the small round object disappeared into the girl's bloodstream along with the odd purple fluid.

* * *

Both her eyes flew wide open as she glanced left and right. She slowly rubbed at her head, trying to fight off a headache. It was then that she noticed that she was no longer inside the cramped jet but rather in the passenger seat of some beat up old pick-up truck. Her blue eyes slowly studied the driver. It was a grey-haired Spanish man with a grizzly looking beard and overalls. By the look on his face she wouldn't be asking him questions anytime soon. Subconsciously Lenore brought her hand to her neck to rub out a creak that had been plaguing her since she woke up. Her small fingers traced over an odd bump that she took no notice to as she loudly popped her neck. An irritable mumbling in Spanish came from the driver as she risked a glance at the driver. The road was extremely bouncy and rough as it jolted the vehicle over the dirt road. Lenore did her best to hold on to anything she could find to keep from bouncing out of the seat. It was then that she saw it; a large church tower looming in the distance and something told her that she was home.

_A/N: Told you this was going to be a longer chapter! I think this one came out a lot nicer than my last one. We've finally reached some familiar locales and picked up on a familiar __name. Lenore's a bit of a bore right now and there's no real character conflicts going on, but there will be very soon. I hope my writing style's not too horrendous and Lenore's not too "Mary-Sue." Lord knows that there are enough of them already. . ; _

_Castellan Salazar_


	3. Los Illuminados

_A/N-Words can not describe how tired I am right now. I've been wanting to write this third chapter all day long but once I sit down to start typing it out, I get this overwhelming urge to fall asleep right here and now. I've had quite a few ideas for this chapter, but my tired mind is having some trouble recalling them exactly. I plan on introducing two more familiar characters into this chapter, so I'm sure you'll be happy with that. I hope Lenore is a likeable enough character._

_I don't want to make her into a Ramon Salazar clone. About the only thing she shares with him is the last name and nothing more. I want her to be the person you can relate with, even get bored with because she isn't anything extraordinary like a lot of self-insertion fanfic writers make themselves out to be. She knows nothing about the Los Illuminados or the Las Plagas. She doesn't desire to fill the shoes of the last Castellan. _

_Okay, I reckon I've droned on long enough. It's game time!_

_Resident Evil 4 and respective characters © Capcom_

Los Illuminados

The black pick-up truck came to a lurching stop at the bottom of the graveyard. The loud vehicle's engine begrudgingly shut off, leaving Lenore and the driver with the sound of a light rain that had recently picked up upon passing through the large gates to the church. The driver said something to the young woman; the only word she could understand was "_iglesia_," which she understood as "church." He pointed up to the grey building as Lenore slid out of the passenger seat and onto the muddied ground. The rain dampened her hair and urged the girl to pull the black hood of her coat up over her head. The driver didn't wait for Lenore as he already started up the inclined hill past the dozens of gravestones to reach the church.

"W-wait!" Lenore managed to yell out as the man made no effort to do so. The short woman's leather boots were slipping in the mud and rain, dirtying the bottoms of her pants and making it increasingly difficult to climb up the hill. The dull rain only began to increase in intensity as Lenore reached the top of the hill to where she could truly start to study the architecture of the church. It had a modest-sized bell tower with what appeared to be a large copper bell. The building was old and constructed with grey rocks. Light was reflecting out of the stain-glassed windows and reflecting various colors onto the ground below. Instead of a cross at the top of the building was the same insect-like insignia that she had been seeing so much of the past two days.

The driver had waited outside of the large oak double-doors, impatience showing on his wan face. "_Rapida, Niña! Ahora!"_ he yelled loudly to the girl, shaking her out of her stupor. Lenore walked up the few steps to the entrance of the church as the man easily shoved the large doors open. The bright light of the chandelier in the small church was a welcome change to the dull colors of the landscape outside.

There were six rows of wooden pews, each one occupied by either a man or woman from the village that she had passed through earlier. Every head was bowed in reverence to the man that stood in the pulpit. Lenore glanced back to figure out where her escort had went to find that he had sidled into a pew beside a balding man. Her eyes once again traveled to the back of the man that was leading the people in prayers. He was wearing the most beautiful purple robe she had ever seen. A large golden insignia of the religion took up half of the back of his robe and the man's hood was pulled over his head.

Lenore stood awkwardly at the entrance to the church, relieved to see that no one had taken notice to her. Her eyes travelled casually to the left of her when she saw this giant of a man. His hands surely had to be as large as her head. Her eyes slowly travelled up, way up until she saw his face and that was when she let out an unintentional shriek. The ridiculously tall man had one dull grayish-blue eye and a glass red one. There was no hair atop his head, but rather a long brown beard with flecks of silver throughout. What made Lenore shriek, however, was the intense glare of hatred he was raining down over her.

Lenore's high-pitched shriek stopped the man leading the church in prayer in mid-sentence. All eyes were plastered on the small quaking girl as the man in the royal purple robe set the book he had been reading from aside. A cold smirk came over his hooded face as he slowly gestured with his arms as he spoke, "You have finally arrived to our lovely village. I hope the plane trip was not too…excruciating. We have been awaiting your arrival for many weeks now."

Wide blue eyes managed to peel themselves away from the bi-colored eyed man and towards the one at the pulpit. Lenore managed a weak smile as she backed away behind a pew, her mind now positive that this casual trip had been a bad idea, a very _bad_ idea. Her voice faltered when she noticed the cold glares she was getting from everyone in the church. Thunder crashed and lightning ripped through the sky outside as she replied," Y-yea, the trip was a…a piece of cake. Heh…"

"Fabulous," the man in the purple robe drew out almost in a serpentine manner, the smirk on his face increasing ever so slightly, "With the tragic death of your cousin, we had no other choice but to find someone to take over and rule the Salazar castle. It appears that you were the next person that seemed appropriate enough to give the title of the 'Ninth Castellan' to. Your importance here is…priceless."

Lenore raised her right eyebrow. Cousin? She had no cousins, let alone one that owned a castle in Spain! How they had managed to track her down and figure out the family tree was beyond her. In a voice about as small as she was, she inquired,"W-why did you need me? And first off, who or what is a 'castellan?'" She had heard that word repeated time and time again since she had been on the jet with the monks. Every time she'd turn around, the monks were calling her "Castellan Salazar." She assumed it meant queen or duchess or, at the most loathed, "princess."

The question seemed to amuse the purple-robed man as he folded his hands politely behind his back. The girl was innocent and naive, and he found it quite refreshing that he'd be teaching someone new to the ways of _Los Illuminados_ again. White eyes fell upon the girl that stood hiding behind the last pew, "Your purpose to me and the _Los Illuminados_ faith is too difficult to go into detail about right now. As for your second question, a castellan is a person who has a high duty to govern over and protect their castle. It is only a position given to those of noble blood."

"N-noble…blood?" those two words piqued the slightly jittery girl's attention as she moved away from the pew. The strange man nodded his head, happy to see that she was falling for the bait like a starving fish. Lenore asked her final two questions before going back to being silent again, "Who are you and what are the _Los Illuminados?"_

She asked the two questions the man was looking most forward to answering. He took the hood off his head, allowing Lenore to view him clearly. He had dark brown hair and a very high hair line. The man's eyes were completely white save for his two slit-like pupils. The man's skin was deathly white but there was no denying that he was a leader with the power he radiated off him. He spoke confidently, "My name is Lord Osmund Saddler, the leader of the fine religion known as _Los Illuminados._ I have successfully spread this religion throughout this village and to the castle you shall soon reside in. Your late cousin was the most devout of my followers and I hope for you to be the same way."

The humongous man that stood in the back of the church gave an irritable "humph" at the mention of Lenore's cousin. Lenore gave a startled jump once more when she remembered how close she was in proximity to the giant. No words could come out of her mouth, forcing the frightened Lenore to just point up at him. Lord Saddler didn't even have to hear her question to answer it, "That is Chief Bitores Mendez, the overseer and guardian of the village below. He is another very devout follower and member of _Los Illuminados._ I expect you to treat this man with the utmost respect and obedience."

Lenore gave a quiet squeak as she nodded her head to Lord Saddler, trying her best to ignore the man beside her that she knew without a doubt was over seven feet tall. The leader of the church signaled for the newly appointed Castellan to take a seat in the front pew, forcing a man to give up where he had been sitting. The young woman wasn't overly fond of sitting beside two perturbed villagers. Both of them were white-faced women in dirty dresses that she could pick up a distinct smell from. Lenore subtly tried to wrinkle her nose to avoid the smell, but it was to no avail. As Lord Saddler turned his attention away from Lenore and back to the small gathering of people in the church, he returned to speaking in Spanish. Lenore tried for the first five minutes to understand what the man was saying, but finally gave up as she leaned back in the uncomfortable wooden pew. Her feet dangled in the air like a child who was too short to reach the floor. Every member of the church had their heads down in reverence; only in occasion would they speak up in unison and chant "_Morir es vivir" _or something along those lines. Taking the cue from those around her, she kept her head bowed and would occasionally join in the chanting when the Spanish didn't get too complex.

* * *

Lenore rubbed at her chest and stomach lightly, trying to get rid of the sharp pain that she was feeling. It had started all of the sudden when Saddler had started to take a deeper tone in his prayers. She squinched her left eye shut and fought off the urge to give any signs she was in pain. It was nearly unbearable when she felt her vision go blurry, causing her to lurch forward in the seat. She drew in a sharp breath the more intense the pain got. Suddenly, Saddler put down the book as he turned to face the small gathering, his eyes on Lenore at the same time she collapsed forward out of the pew and onto the stone floor below. The expression on his face was of a smug delight when he commanded the people beside the unconscious woman to pick her up and take her to her proper residence.

_A/N-Whew! Chapter Numero Tres is down! I actually enjoyed writing this chapter quite a bit. As I said, I was going to add two more characters. __Hrm?__Whazzat__, you say? Ramon's died a tragic death? Yup, although I haven't figured out what it was __yet.__ Natural causes, perhaps? I think I'm turning this more into a Resident Evil Alternate Universe than a sequel to what happened in the game. Yea, let's go with that. Anyhow, I fully expect to have some more Las Plagas business and reverences to the Eighth Castellan in my next chapter. _

_Castellan Salazar_


	4. Las Plagas

_A/N: I've been doing my darndest to add a new chapter every day. Sometimes I'm creative and overflowing with brilliant ideas. But sometimes, my well's run dry, if ya get my drift. I'm pleased to see I got a first review and I will definitely confirm that this is indeed an Alternate Universe story! This is before the whole Ashley kidnapping and introduction of our main protagonist Leon! I'm still contemplating whether or not I want to introduce those goody-two shoes or to just stick with the villains. I slowly come up with a plot as I write each additional chapter, so the true way this story's going is yet to be affirmed._

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

Las Plagas

It took a while for Lenore's vision to come back into focus, her eyes studying the ornate ceiling above her. The last thing the girl could recall was Lord Saddler giving his sermon and then her world went black. She put a hand to her chest, the slight burning had disappeared into nothing more than a tingle. Groaning, Lenore sat up, her hands resting on a soft mattress. She had been put into a very fine bedroom and dumped onto a queen-sized mattress with a maroon cover decorated with golden embroideries. She slid off the bed, her feet lightly touching the dusky purple carpet below. Her slim fingers traced over the large oak wardrobe that had been set close to the bed. Gold leaf etchings had been carved onto the doors. She made her way over to a large portrait that had been hung up over the modest fire-place on the east wall. The portrait was that of a boy that seemed to be no older than twelve or thirteen. His skin had a healthy glow to it and happiness radiated from the auburn eyes. A large blue tricorne hat had been settled on top of the youth's head, an elegant blue jacket accompanied it. The clothing seemed reminiscent of the Victorian era. She wasn't sure who the person was, but she took an educated guess and figured that she was in the boy's room.

With a slight creak of hinges, Lenore opened the door to leave the bedchamber. A long hallway stretched before her, dozens of doors lined the hall. She figured she was in the castle that the man had been talking about. It took a moment's debating before Lenore chose to head down the right of the hallway and explore the rooms available to her there. She felt uneasy upon entering the seventh room and finding no sign of anyone. It's not like they'd leave a stranger to explore a place without at least telling her where to go and what places to stay out of. Each room she entered, though beautiful and full of priceless antiques, felt cold and unwelcoming. Using what weak navigation skills she had, Lenore finally came to an area that possessed the very people she was searching for. She slowly opened up another door that moaned on its hinges as she opened it. The room she had discovered was _huge,_ elegant chandeliers illuminated the room that had cathedral-style ceilings and marble arches. Tapestries depicting the Spanish Inquisition lined the wall beside her where she walked. The tapestries were slightly disturbing; each picture had a different scene of someone either being engulfed in flames or tortured in ways she thought died out centuries ago. On one tapestries the _Los Illuminados_ insignia was proudly displayed in the middle of a scene of carnage. Her eyes were diverted from the tapestries to the sound of several people speaking in Spanish. Lenore had found a higher floor to look over the people.

She crept silently up to a marble pillar as she stood behind it. One voice she distinguished as Lord Saddler's, but the other voices weren't so distinct. Several times throughout the conversation, she heard her name tossed around with the word "_Las Plagas." _Saddler seemed to bring up something about the religion and she heard once or twice the word _"matar,"_ quickly followed by a group of _"__si's__."_ Lenore wasn't sure what they were conversing about, but she seemed to be the main focus throughout. It made her uneasy to have her name said once amongst a group of friends, let alone being said by people she never knew. She kept her breathing low as she risked a glance from behind the heavy pillar to see what exactly they were doing. Looking down over the group, she saw the _Los Illuminados_ leader looking her right in the eyes, a dark smirk on his face. Saddler motioned the young woman to come down with a slight gesture from his left hand. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chance at the thoughts that the man had knew she was there all along.

Lenore found some steep stairs to leave the higher floor to come to the same level as Saddler. She glanced around to find out where the people he had been conversing with were no where in sight. The eerie man stood in the middle of the enormous room with a very bizarre staff clutched in his right hand. It resembled some sort of creature, a large eye blinked occasionally at the top of the staff. She stood thirty feet away from Saddler, hesitant to draw any closer. A light chuckle came from the man, "Come here, Salazar. I won't harm you." Lenore kept where she was at, not quite willing to trust the white-eyed man yet. Saddler ushered the girl forward once more, a bit more commanding this time, "If you plan to live here, you should learn how to come when _I_ tell you."

She found herself drawing closer to the man in purple, her head held down. When she got five feet away, she could hear a low whistling in her head. She shook her head once to get the annoying sound to dissipate. Saddler drew very close to the girl, putting his hand under her chin and leading her face up to his. Lenore, accustomed to not making eye contact, found her drawing her blue orbs up to the old man. His expression was unreadable as he studied her face, "They are growing still. It will be a while before you truly are one of us." He then let go of Lenore's chin, wiping the hand he had touched her with on his robes.

"Wh-what?" Lenore turned around to see Saddler walking off to leave her by herself once more. Even though she knew it was a stupid idea to trail behind the man, more questions had started to float around in the back of her head. What did he mean by "they?" The young woman was thoroughly surprised that it proved to be much more difficult to keep up with the older man than she thought. Her short legs made it hard for her to keep up with Saddler despite his casual striding. Finally, Lenore yelled out,"What are 'they?!' "Saddler stopped, the smirk on his face was small as he answered her, "Your _Las Plagas._ It's the brilliant parasite that every member of _Los Illuminados_ possesses. I made sure to tell the men that escorted you here to give you the parasite that was appropriate to the position you have been entitled. "Saddler turned to face the girl; the fright on her face was delicious as he continued to enlighten her to the thing that every member of his group carried, "Oh, don't worry. Your _Plaga _is strong, unlike the weak one most of my followers possess. You shall soon come to appreciate the power I have endowed you with."

Saddler left the girl alone; her mind was having trouble comprehending what he had said. Lenore's knees grew exceptionally weak as she dropped to the floor, her blond bangs shielding how wide her eyes were," Parasite…This can't be real. It can't be. "At least it now made sense as to why she blacked out during his sermon. She wanted to yell, to curse, to cry, but she refused to do none of that as she pulled herself up off the floor. Moping and self-loathing could be saved for another day. What she needed to do right now was figure out the castle's many expansive rooms. Her eyes traveled upwards towards the lofty ceilings, taking in the magnificent architecture. She could only imagine how long it took to get the castle completed.

Her wanderings throughout the expansive castle also brought her to many perils. She had discovered a dungeon near the audience hall upon opening the door that was to her left. Despite how many times she tried to get the door open, it just wouldn't work. Upon glancing inside the windows that overlooked the dank dungeon, she had seen some…_thing_ that had been chained up inside the solitary cell. Shaking the cold sweat off her forehead, she had proceeded to also walk into a room full of old suits of armor. Her instinct to touch the metal had nearly gotten her arm lobbed off as the suit fell forward towards her. Quick thinking and luck allowed Lenore to escape with only a torn sleeve. Every room seemed to have an individual trap set up and it got Lenore to thinking who'd be crazy enough to booby trap the entire castle. She figured it went back to when wars and the worry of assassinating kings was a daily threat.

She had also discovered many secret passageways. After dropping a lovely purplish spinel she had found on an armoire on the ground beside a cherry wood cabinet, she caught sight of a small knob that had been put low on the wall. It grabbed her attention as she tugged on the knob to open up a small door that looked just the right size for her to crawl through. It wasn't any larger or wider than an air duct and seemed to have gone unused for ages. She fought back shrieks of fright when her head or hands would come in contact with cobwebs or small spiders. She cursed her arachnophobia as she pressed on, finally falling out head first into a dark room. Rolling over to her stomach and pulling herself up, Lenore took in the decorations and contents of the room to discover it had once been a drawing room. Old parchment papers had been scattered and torn. Lenore had managed to find a very old leather-bound sketchbook that had been locked. She was aggravated that she couldn't find a key anywhere in the room, but it didn't stop her from putting the small thing in her coat pocket. Lenore drew in a sharp gasp of pain upon stubbing her toe on the drawing desk. She kept herself from saying any vulgar words, her interest immediately falling upon the unfinished sketch that had been left to decay. "What is this?" she asked herself, plopping down onto the wooden chair. The drawing seemed somewhat macabre the more that the young woman studied it. It was a picture of one of the many monks that inhabited the castle. Everything seemed normal until she looked at the head, or rather, where the head should have been. A large centipede-like thing had been drawn coming out of the neck of the monk, drool and blood drawn on the thing. Her eyes traveled to a word that was written near the monk's feet. "_Plagas_ stage two," Lenore read out loud. She lowered the paper, fear once again tracing over her face. Was that the thing that was inside her? If that was stage two, Lenore didn't even want to see stage one or the others. It brought her mind back to what Saddler had told her, that she possessed a different type of _Plaga._ Seeing that picture, she doubted it made much of a difference. The only thing she knew was that she had to get that thing out of her body so she didn't have to risk looking like a centipede the rest of her life.

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_A/N: I was struggling for inspiration with this chapter, but I still wanted to pen something down. I'm trying to build up to the more intense scenes, which I plan to have much fun with. Saddler is a very hard character to get right. He's evil, but has an almost sarcastic way of speaking. Lenore is also an enjoyable character to tinker around with, especially now that she's discovered she's parasite-infected. I have interesting plans for her indeed…_


	5. Ulterior Motives

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I've been having a lot of fun writing it! I respect you for telling me to take my time and update once a week, I honestly do, but when I get ideas for a new chapter that pop into my head, I'm writing away, whether or not I just added a new chapter the day before. My steam's yet to run out right now and I've been having a whole lot of fun! _

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

Ulterior Motives

"That girl is worth more to our faith than you can comprehend," Saddler told the intimate gathering of people in the large dining hall. The room's ceiling was low and modest and small plaques of poems relating to bread, wine, and dessert decorated the walls. A beautiful picture of a dinner spread was hung at the end of what resembled a small shooting gallery. Chalices filled with a deep red wine had been distributed to the group but they had all went untouched. Saddler's dark gaze fell upon each person in the room, all of them his devout followers. He continued on,"She knows nothing of her family and that is a major advantage for us. Ramon knew of the hatred _Los Illuminados_ endured when the religion was in its infancy. He had atoned for his family's sins. Lenore, on the other hand, has only just been enlightened to our divine teachings and is a clean slate. "

The large man that Saddler had identified as Mendez gave a gruff noise before speaking, the Spanish accent noticeable," My lord, why do we even need the American? One of your closest followers could easily take over where Ramon failed." Mendez's comment garnered many nods from the gathering of hooded monks and humble villagers. Mendez was a very quiet man, only speaking when he thought was necessary. This was a topic that involved the cult's safety and possible danger from an outside force. For many years, _Los Illuminados_ had been growing in the castle and adjoining village. The village chief didn't want to see his lord's efforts go to waste.

Saddler raised a black-nailed hand to signify undivided attention as all eyes once again fell on him, "Without a Salazar, _Las Plagas_ mining would come to a standstill." He knew that raised many questions amongst the men as he continued to explain," There is something about this family that has a control on the parasite I can't put my finger on. They sealed our religion's primary power deep underground centuries back, but once we reopened the site, it seemed that Ramon had some…influence over _Las Plagas _that drew my attention.That boy didn't know it at the time, but this ability he had with them helped me to resurrect them to what we now possess."

A younger voice spoke up, still carrying the Spanish accent,"But what if she can't? What then…" The man seemed to have trouble spitting out the last part,"_Lord_ Saddler?" The man patiently laced his fingers together on the table; a few rings decorated his slim fingers. Brown hair fell loosely to his neck and the signs of a few days growth of stubble were on the man's chin. Deep brown eyes stared at the leader in purple as he awaited his question.

"Mister Sera, that is where you come in. I expect you to make sure the girl's parasite grows accordingly so she can fulfill her…family's obligations," a smirk crept up on Saddler's face as he brought his attention towards the man he called 'Mister Sera.' The table grew silent, each monk trading glances from Saddler to Sera. Sera gave the humblest nod to the man as he rose from his chair to do the leader's bidding. Sera hadn't even seen the girl, but he figured that the youth from America would stick out like a sore thumb in comparison to the white-faced monks and other beasts that roamed the castle's interior.

Mendez, who had grown uncomfortable sitting in the small chair, had chosen to stand against the wall, arms crossed over his broad chest. He had hated the last Castellan, so he certainly didn't want to see the new one get the same amount of power. If he had it in his hands, he would have the girl killed so he could consider his dwellings a ritzy castle instead of a manure-infested village. The girl was a dumb American! He didn't see what the last name mattered when in the end he had stuck close to his Lord after the past Castellan's passing. _He_ was the most loyal follower to Saddler, not some spoiled American child! Mendez furrowed his brow, the conversation between the researcher from Madrid and his lord was not important to him. His eyes followed Sera's leave as he took that as an unconscious cue that the meeting was over. A ghost of a smirk crept up on the massive man's face, his footsteps thundering out of the room as a plan starting to calculate in his head. If he killed the girl and fed her to the last Castellan's "precious" pets, the Salazar family name would be extinguished.

"Holy shi-," Lenore found herself in the aptly named Water Room. She felt so miniscule in the giant place that she had decided to experiment with the echo qualities of the inside lake. She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled out at the top of her lungs," I AM QUEEN OF SPAIN!!" Once, twice, and thrice she was greeted by her voice as it bounced over large marble vases, stone stairs, and walls. The grin on her face was obvious as she let forth with another one, "VIVA LA LENORE!!!!" The yell was soon followed by her distinctive laugh at the pure fun of the room. "Eee hee hee hahaha!" her face was wide-eyed and full of joy as she traversed the stone steps up to the second level of the Water Room. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Parthenon, at least to her, and odd paintings hung at unreachable areas. Two large cranks were on a level that she had no dreams of reaching and in the water were two stepping blocks that she could hop on to reach the next room. She was too involved in exploring the current room, however, to even dream of moving into the next. She slipped her muddied boots and socks off to dip her toes in the chilly water. Her voice was sore from screaming and laughing so she chose to disappear into her thoughts.

"I wonder who the last person that owned this place was like," she mused, shaking blond bangs out of her face, "He must have been the luckiest person alive." It was then she began to ask herself questions such as why her grandparents never mentioned this place or that she even had family back in Spain. Her grandfather, Hector, was a portly fellow that never stopped grinning. He had told her that she had a rich past and her family had come from Spain, but nothing more. Was he aware of the _Los Illuminados_ or did he find that it would bore her and her brother? She had always loved history, especially her own. Her mother's side of the family came from Germany and she even recalled how her great grandfather had reluctantly told her that he had a brother that had served Hitler in the army. She just chalked it up that her family wasn't the most distinguished of citizens anywhere.

Lenore pulled her little feet out of the water to stare at her reflection. She was average in every sense of the word. Her face was oval in shape and lacked any tan. Her hair was light blond with the occasional darker fleck of sandy blond. Her left bangs fell completely over that side of the face, obscuring her left eye from sight. Lenore had pale blue eyes; deep circles lined them from the lack of sleep she got when studying late into the night. She was atrocious in her studies of an art degree and was a known procrastinator amongst her three friends. Lenore was thin, very thin and it showed with her slender limbs and hour-glass torso. Her height was the one thing she loathed. Nineteen years old and she stood 4'8." She hated her diminutive size. Everyone else in her family stood at average heights and she got stuck with her height. Lenore looked deeper into her reflection, oblivious to the large shadow that was looming over her.

A humongous hand shot out from behind Lenore, grabbing her by her small throat. She couldn't even get the chance to scream as her small figure was hefted up into the air. Lenore flailed her legs wildly in the air, trying to touch ground or at least make contact with whoever had grabbed her. She could feel the blood rushing to her head as she fought uselessly against the hand that was intent on strangling her. Bi-colored eyes stared intently into hers. Mendez had managed to stalk the Castellan by the sound of her voice and laughter. Oh, how he _despised_ that laugh with every fiber of his being. He squeezed her throat tighter, constricting the air flow. He watched her face; his own was taken aback when he saw the blue in her eyes began to turn a golden yellow. The blue was washed away from Lenore's as the yellow began to creep up and take over the former color. He narrowed his eyes, an irritable growl sounding deep within his throat. Saddler had given the girl a Master _Plaga_. Not only that, but one that was more superior to the one he possessed. He wanted to snap the girl's neck then and there, to end the small problem but that would simply destroy the plan he had come up with. Mendez knew that Ramon had dearly loved his twisted pets and he was the only one that had any ability to control them. They would attack anyone that wasn't him and the former Castellan got twisted glee sending Mendez's villagers into the hedge maze to satiate his "precious pets'" voracious appetite for flesh. The girl would be good retribution for all the villagers he had lost due to the twisted youth.

Lenore saw her life flashing before her eyes as her larynx was being crushed by the man that had frightened the crap out of her upon first coming to Spain. She knew she was several feet off the ground and had no chance of touching it. She had clasped Mendez's giant wrist with her two small hands in an attempt to pry his grasp from her. It had proved futile as she discovered the man had the strength of an elephant. Her vision began to dim the more she struggled, her flailing legs only grew weaker as the seconds ticked by. Mendez was out to kill her! She tried gasping, pleading, but only was able to give weak gurgles. Something inside her was also struggling against imminent death as she felt her chest and gut burn. It was like she was slowly regaining strength, but it still wasn't enough compared to the giant of a man before her. Hot tears of fright brimmed at either eye as she realized it was her last moments alive. Then, the man loosened his grip on her throat, but refused to let her go completely. She opened up her mouth and gratefully swallowed in air to fill her lungs.

Mendez drew the young woman close to his face, his eyes staring hatred directly into hers," You are one of us, but I will refuse to let you have as much power as _I_ do." Lenore glanced frightened into Mendez's face, sure that he was giving her a lull of peace before going through with it and snapping her neck. It was then her mind processed what he had said," O-one of you?!" _Right,_ she thought, _the parasite. _Mendez kept a tight grip on her neck as he slammed the door open to find the courtyard. He didn't know the castle's many turns and rooms as _he_ had, but he knew enough to find the area to take out the trash. He shoved past the monks that had taken notice to how he held their new Castellan. A few monks had attempted to even get the scared Lenore loose, but the closer Mendez drew, they shrunk back and scattered like flies. The girl weighed nothing to him and he quickly found the area he was searching for. He lifted Lenore high up into the air, the hatred on his face more intense as ever as he flung the girl hard into the pet's playing ground; the hedge maze.

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_A/N: I love Mendez, I truly do, but I just have always imagined him to be the type to hate Salazar, not to be "buddies" or…other with him. That brought me to make this chapter. Mendez wouldn't want some American girl to take over a position that he'd find himself more than appropriate for.__ I've always speculated that the Salazar's would be bound to have some power over the Las Plagas. Granted, not to the extent that Saddler does, but enough to matter._

_I've also seen Salazar to be the type that'd __connect more with his animals than he would to other people, so that's why I brought up mention of his "precious pets" so many damn times. I guess the way I view __Salazar is a lot different than other people do, but everything is open to interpretations, my friends!_


	6. Dogs and Researchers

_A/N: I realize it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been busy participating in Gaia's Halloween event! If you are a part of Gaia Online, then Halloween is the time to be on! With the event wrapping up as I type, I thought it was way past time to write another chapter. I've been in and out of writer's block this week, but I feel I've got a good enough idea for this chapter. I hope you all will enjoy and please read and review._

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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Dogs and Researchers

Lenore felt the damp grass touching her exposed skin, she felt the chill of the outside air and could see a few stars twinkling between the heavy cloud cover. With the power that Mendez had tossed her, she was pretty much sure that she broke every bone in her body. Oddly enough, she wasn't feeling anything more than a dull pain in her neck and elbows. With a slight groan, the girl pulled herself up, her knees popping as she did so. Her eyes came into focus to see eight foot tall hedges on either side of her. She tugged her coat closer to her body, but the soggy ground beneath her bare feet could not be helped. The grass squelched beneath Lenore's feet as she tried to gather her bearings. There was no way in hell she could see over the hedges, nor could she manage to find any familiar landmarks to make her way out of the maze. In fact, she didn't even know where the exit was. She had just been tossed somewhere in the middle of it.

Mendez stood watching the girl from the stone pathway that overlooked the labyrinth, his arms crossed irately over his broad chest. Typically, he would have enjoyed killing the girl with his bare hands, but the idea of getting payback from all the villagers that had been eaten by Salazar's dogs was a chance that the village chief was not going to pass up. He couldn't quite locate where the girl was, but he was sure that the hungry howls from the putrid beasts would start up soon enough. Two male villagers lingered beside Mendez, curious to see what he was so intently watching. The giant of a man kept his eyes focused on the large labyrinth. He wasn't going to leave his location until he saw the girl get ripped to shreds. He had despised the past Castellan so fiercely that he had begun to wonder why Lord Saddler chose the little freak to have a higher position than him. He had known the Lord for at least two years longer than Salazar, but the little man was granted the higher authority in Saddler's scheme of things. Mendez then decided that severing the Castellan lineage would surely allow him to have the highest authority of the _Los Illuminados_ religion besides Saddler himself. A slight smirk crept onto the usually stoic man's face. Getting rid of the girl would be a very easy thing to do. She was frail, fragile, and naïve. The stupid American didn't even deserve to be in the presence of Lord Saddler. Mendez ignored the two villagers that had accompanied him; he had more important things to keep watch of.

"D-did I just pass that?" Lenore quietly asked herself. She glanced up at the large statue of what looked to be Diana the Moon Goddess. Water cascaded around the large statue into a basin below. It was a truly soothing sound but Lenore wasn't in the mood to listen to the water. She knew there had to be a way out of the hedge maze! If she could find her way in corn mazes, this should prove to be no different. The giant hedges seemed to lean inwards towards her and either side was narrow. The cold of the air nipped at Lenore's cheeks and white fingers. Lenore stopped dead in her tracks, hearing the sound of something on the other side of the hedge to her left. It was a fierce snarling sound that made Lenore's heartbeat quicken. She gulped slightly, knowing that she'd have to find a way out of the damned maze whether or not it meant facing this snarling creature. Her footsteps grew lighter, as if each step she took could be her last. The single growling and snarling sounded as if more beasts had joined in and the sounds now echoed all around her as Lenore tried desperately to find the exit point of the hellish maze.

Lenore took a turn to her right upon hearing the growling suddenly ceasing. Cold sweat had begun to trickle down the young woman's face as she stared straight ahead to the new path. What she saw had her breathe a sigh of relief. There it was! The large wrought iron gates that opened up to the exit point of the maze. Unfortunately, there was a long distance between where she was at now and where the gates were situated. Lenore had barely made three steps towards the door when she heard the sound of many paws contacting against the wet earth and the wild howls of many dogs. Her eyes flew open as she saw the things that had been stalking her. There were at least eight of them and they were quickly gaining speed. She gave out a quick scream as she burst out running, her small legs doing the best they could to propel her from her current position to the gates. _Run,_ Lenore told herself, _run! Run like your life depended on it because it __pro'lly__ does! Run! Run because you've got family back in the states that need you! Run because you want to see that giant man get what'__s coming to him! Run because you don't want to die!_

As fast as Lenore was going, the wild beasts were even faster. Two had closed in on either side of her and four more were snapping at her heels. Saliva flew out of the gaping mouths and wagging tongues. Bright yellow eyes were sizing up their prey and debating the best way to take her down. She gave a panicked shriek, knowing she wasn't going to outpace those dogs, yet she wasn't willing to lie down and die. Her leg muscles were aching and her chest was burning. Lenore could see the gates grow closer, ever so closer! "No!" Lenore cried out, her right ankle twisting under her as she fell forward into the ground. In seconds the dogs were all over her, snarling and pressing their wet noses up against her. Lenore cried softly, pulling her body up into a fetal position and put her arms over her head. She knew that she'd be dead in moments. The dogs were howling in success that their prey was down, but to Lenore's confusion and Mendez's anger, they just sat on their haunches, wagging their tails playfully. Lenore had shut her eyes, ready to deal with the pain of being torn apart. She even gave a panicked sob as a few dogs began to lick at her face. She let her right eye open, her vision focusing in on the dogs just sitting there staring back at her. Each of the eight dogs had their tails wagging happily and long tongues hanging out.

"No! No!" Mendez slammed a humongous fist onto the stone banister at what he was seeing. The _colmillos _should have been ripping the girl limb from limb, not licking her face or sitting around listlessly. He was seething in anger as he yelled angrily in Spanish to the two startled villagers that he just noticed. The two men awkwardly nodded their heads to their chief and descended the steps to enter the hedge maze to deal with Lenore accordingly. Mendez gripped the banister hard, the pressure from his hands causing it to crumble. That girl was going to die one way or another.The two villagers took their work tools, an ax and a sickle, out from their belts as they approached the large iron gates. They didn't bother being quiet about it as they flung the gates open, the hinges creaking loudly. They intended on killing the girl where the mutts miserably failed.

Lenore painfully drew her throbbing ankle away from her body as she got out of the fetal position. The dogs hadn't made any moves to tear her throat out, so she figured she was safe. Lenore gingerly held her right hand out to the one closest to her. The dog, which looked more like a mangy wolf, turned to sniff the Castellan's hand. She began to lightly pet its muzzle, praying the beast wouldn't take the opportunity to bite her fingers off. It merely wagged its tail. The quiet moment she was sharing with the _colmillos_ was quickly shattered when the gates creaked open. The two villagers had a frightening bloodlust in their eyes as they drew closer, their glinting tools raised high in the air. Lenore gave a quick squeak, her ankle hurting too badly for her to get up on run. In unison, she heard the low snarls of the dogs erupt around her. Those men meant their master harm and that was reason enough to attack the villagers. The eight _colmillos _rapidly lunged at the men, who didn't even have the time to turn and run. It took only one dog to take down the heavier villager. Lenore was trying her best to block out the sound of the beast ripping the man's throat out and the gurgled screams. The second villager threw his sickle at a _colmillo,_ which simply leaped to the side and started to tear at the man's calf. The air was mixed with screams and howls as Lenore began to painfully crawl out of the hedge maze.

It took her a few minutes to even reach the first stone step as she drew out a pained breath. Her ankle wasn't broken, that much she knew, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She peered around for Mendez, knowing that he was the one that sent the villagers after her. She reached the top of the steps, groaning each time her ankle contacted with the hard stones. She was relieved to see that he was no where about, but she had a feeling he wasn't far off. She grabbed the banister and pulled herself back up to her feet. Lenore had to make it to the room that was close by, but every step was agonizing to her. She pushed open the door with the words that read "Two Moons Make One" and collapsed into the nearest chair. She hadn't even been in Spain for a day and she had already about got killed twice, discovered she's parasite positive, and she was the Ninth Castellan. Lenore just wanted to go back home, but she knew it wasn't going to be that simple.

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Luis Sera was a man of science, a researcher that Saddler had hired to help study and understand the parasites known as _Las Plagas _better. Luis was familiar with the village and the terrain, since his grandparents had grew up and lived in the region for many years before passing away. What had intrigued the Spaniard most recently was in his quest to find the next Castellan. He had feverishly searched the Salazar family tree to find out that the Fifth Castellan had a brother, Hernandez, which had traveled to America in the early 1900s. The brother had settled somewhere in New York state, married, and raised a family there. That led Luis to discover Lenore Salazar was the one in line to be the next Castellan. Although she had a brother, Lenore was the oldest and therefore eligible to be the next Castellan of the Salazar family castle. What Luis wondered, however, was why Saddler wanted the girl. She probably had no idea of her family's dark past, nor did she seem to be the type of person to rule about as dementedly as Ramon had. The girl seemed clueless, in truth. Saddler also wasn't known to be very fond of the "filthy swine," as he was most often heard when acknowledging Americans. All Luis was interested in doing was locating Lenore and figuring out about her and determining the maturity of the parasite. He didn't want the girl to become another mindless _Ganado_ that groveled before Lord Saddler like all the rest. He was also quite positive that the girl wouldn't be too pleased about the physical aspects her body would take after the parasite fully matured.

Luis stopped in his tracks, recognizing the heavy footsteps of the village chief. Mendez seemed more furious than usual as the two men exchanged eye contact. Luis took that as a subconscious cue to not question the man about the whereabouts of Lenore. Most likely, he wouldn't get an answer under any circumstance. It was vital for the young researcher to find the girl as soon as possible. He had been speculating the time the girl had been injected, but he wanted to make sure and to know the maturity of the _Las Plagas_ within her. Problem was, he couldn't do it without asking a few questions first. The castle was huge and the girl could easily be in any of the rooms. By pure luck, and eliminating places that he figured the girl wouldn't even know about, he found her in the Moon Room, nursing a sprained ankle. Lenore was a lot different than how he'd imagine. He didn't expect blond hair or blue eyes, but he wasn't overly surprised by the height. She was indeed taller than the last Castellan, but not by much.

"Senorita Salazar, just the person I was looking for," Luis's voice broke the silence of the room and startled the girl right off the chair. The Spaniard flinched embarrassedly as the girl gave a moan of pain. He was quick to help her up, but not surprised by the look of fright in her eyes.

"W-who are you?" Lenore asked, quickly prying herself free of the lean man's grasp. She was suspicious of anyone with a Spanish accent at the moment. She studied the man and his attire. He seemed different than Mendez and certainly nothing like Saddler or his robed followers. Lenore thought the man should be modeling on runways in Paris rather than be in some far removed area in Spain.

"_Me llamo Luis Sera,"_ he replied calmly. He figured he was going to keep things as simple for the confused girl as possible. He allowed a friendly smile to flit across his face," If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"I-I do mind," Lenore timidly replied, "I've been on a plane for over four hours, I've about got killed _twice,_ I watched people get eaten alive in front of me, I learnt I'm a carrier of some freaky-ass parasite, and the day isn't even over!" She wasn't in the mood to be friendly; all she wanted to do was fall asleep and wake back up in her Manhattan apartment. That wasn't going to happen, however.

Luis smirked a bit at the girl's attitude before continuing," It'll just be a few questions and I'll let you continue on your merry little way, _amiga."_ He glanced down at the unhappy Castellan as he interjected her before she could even open her mouth," Now, let's start things simple. When did you arrive in Spain?"

"I don't want to…."Lenore trailed off, giving an exasperated sigh. She was too tired to argue," I got here around daylight, I think. It was storming and rainy." She kept her eyes focused on Luis's embroidered leather vest.

"Alright. That didn't kill you, now did it?" Luis smiled," Question _dos;_ Have you been experiencing any stomach cramps or fainting spells? Or have you been coughing up any blood?"

Lenore raised her right eyebrow at the odd questions. After a moment's silence, she reluctantly nodded her head," I've been cramping, my chest hurts, and yea, I've blacked out. I-I haven't been coughing up…blood." She felt uneasy about that question and she drew her arms closer to her chest after answering it.

Luis's smile disappeared after she answered that question. That was what he had feared. The parasite was growing faster than expected. His tone was more serious, "Do you know why you are here, Lenore? Do you _really_ know why you're here?"

Lenore wasn't very sure," T-to take over for my cousin, right?" At least, that was what she had been told.

"Saddler wants you here to raise the _Las Plagas_ so that he can let his twisted little religion take over the world. Your cousin was his Right Hand Man in the securing and releasing of the parasites and he expects you to do the same. Your family, Lenore, has this certain power over the parasites that Saddler wants for himself. He wants you to become his dumb little puppet that will fall and worship him and do every damn thing he says without question!" Luis had gripped the panicking woman by either shoulder. He had saw her starting to back off and find somewhere to go, but she couldn't run from the truth. Luis wasn't about to see a neutral bystander get swept up into the cult,"So long as you have that _thing_ in you, you are one of Saddler's followers, whether you want to be or not. However, since I am quite sure you have the master specimen, the reaction that you have with his control might be a little different."

Luis risked letting go of Lenore, who seemed in too much shock to run off, and pulled a small pill bottle out of his pocket. He placed the bottle in Lenore's right hand as he stared intently into her pale blue eyes, "Take these every time you feel your chest hurting or you start coughing. These pills will inhibit the growth of your _Plaga_, Lenore. They're the only pills I have on me, so don't lose them or let Saddler know you have them."

Lenore nodded her head, bringing her gaze down to the small tan pill bottle in her grasp. She asked quietly," Will they kill it?"

Luis had started to head off, stopping when he heard her solemn voice, "No, but I am working on something that should. As long as you keep taking those pills, which should last you at least a month, I'll have the device ready." The lean man then exited the Moon Room to leave Lenore alone with the truth of her scheme of things in _Los Illuminados_ faith and her busy mind.

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_A/N: Since you all have been so patient with me and loyal to my story, I felt like treating you to a longer chapter. Hooray! I really wanted Luis to have a large role in my story. I like the guy; I really do, so I plan on keeping him a vital part of the story. Lenore keeps learning more and more about herself and her family. She's rather sweet, isn't she? I plan on giving Lenore some more tendencies like her cousin, but not much, in later chapters. It all depends upon where this story goes. I also plan on introducing an unlikely Resident Evil 4 character in my story. Hasta luego!_


	7. Sacred Rituals

_A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews everybody! I'm glad to see you enjoyed the last chapter about as much as I did! It's real fun to imagine yourself as your favorite Resident Evil characters. Somehow, it was really easy for me to get into Mendez's head, but really hard to get into Luis's. Don't ask. I have been contemplating this chapter for a few days, but it's much different in your head when compared to actually penning it down. _

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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Sacred Rituals

Lenore stared at the small tan bottle in her hand. It wasn't larger than any other type that a person would get prescribed medicines in. She could see little oval red and white pills inside that shifted around as she turned the bottle over in her hands. Much to the girl's relief, the instructions were in English. She read the name of the medicine, which was rather obvious. "Plagas Growth Suppressor," Lenore read out loud, knowing she was the only one in the Moon Room," Take one pill at any signs of convulsions, coughing up blood, or abdomen pain."

She stuck the small bottle into her front jacket pocket, just then remembering the little leather-bound journal she had stuck in there earlier. She pulled the little book out of her pocket and limped her way over to the bed with the red and gold embroidered covers. She plopped down, relieved to be off her aching feet. Lenore fumbled with the small gold lock, aggravated at despite how old it looked, that it still wouldn't break or pry loose. She was beyond curious to see what was in it. The creepy drawing of the _Plagas_ only had her itching to figure out if this journal could give her more hints about the strange parasite. The more she knew, the longer she could probably prolong her life. She gave an irritated grumble after fooling around with the book after seven minutes. The lock was not going to give way and all that she did to try to pry it loose, save for chewing on the lock, made the girl realize how very exhausted she was.

She had been up and going since she couldn't remember and each near-death experience made her more exhausted each passing minute. Deciding to give up on the book, Lenore shoved it back into her jacket pocket and collapsed backwards onto the bed. The bed was soft enough and at least the sheets were clean. The pillow she rested her head on felt like goose-down and was soft as could be. Before long, Lenore's breathing had slowed and she was off into a deep sleep. Her dreams were troubled and bordered along the lines of nightmares. Repeatedly she'd find herself running away from _colmillos_ the size of Grizzly bears, Mendez simply laughing in the background. Another nightmare found Lenore in a very strange room. There was a gray walkway straight ahead of her but it wasn't much wider than six feet and dropped off into a black abyss. Large silver pendulums, deadly and sharp, swung rapidly in rhythmic motion back and forth. She could hear the chains and sound of the pendulums cutting into the air. Lenore descended the stone steps to head towards the mighty death devices only to get brutally cut in two.

The last dream she had was particularly frightening; even more so than the last. Lenore was in a pitch black room; the sound of dripping water came from her left and each footstep she made resounded loudly all around her. Slowly, the flickering of several candles lightened the room up as the small flames danced to and fro. That was when she saw it in front of her. It was a huge mirror in the middle of the room, her small form growing ever so closer as she crept towards the large mirror. However, the closer she drew to the mirror, what she saw wasn't her. At least, it couldn't have been. Her blond hair had taken on a shade of gray; her once brilliant blue eyes were now a dark yellow. What bothered her most was the skin she saw. Once lightest of peach skin was now grayish-white with signs of age, little blue veins traced their way across her face. She gave a scream, pounding at the mirror, trying to get rid of the visage that _certainly_ wasn't hers. The image slowly faded away, leaving her in blackness again.

That was when it started; a violent fit of coughs woke the girl up from her restless dreams. Lenore felt like her insides were ready to come out as she coughed loudly. Her chest had this terrible pinching pain deep inside and Lenore was gasping for breath. Every time she tried to pull in air another fit of coughs would start. After what seemed like forever, the fit stopped, leaving Lenore's whole body shaking. She swallowed in the air and wiped the cold sweat away from her brow. When she did that, however, she felt another liquid go across her forehead. She stared speechlessly down into her hands to see crimson blood all over her palms. She had never had a nose bleed in her life and now she was coughing up blood. Shaking, she pulled the small bottle of pills out of her pocket that Luis had gave her and dry swallowed one, grimacing at the sour taste. Lenore started to count the pills and came up with fifteen, not including the one she had just swallowed. These things were supposed to last her until the end of the month when Luis had promised her the device to get rid of the parasite would be ready. She truly doubted the pills would last her through the week, let alone the month of November. Hot tears of frustration welled up in her eyes as she sank once more into the fluffy pillow to sleep and forget about the torture she was going through.

The first rays of dawn shone through the window, flitting dust motes floated playfully in the light and got blown away by the wind coming from an opening door. Three _Illuminados_ monks, all dressed in red, descended upon the sleeping Castellan. A loud cough sounded from the one in the middle, but still Lenore slept. A few muttering in Spanish from the monk in the left and the decision was made. Lenore was grabbed roughly and pulled protesting and flailing from the bed. Her heart was hammering inside her chest at the rude awakening by the unsympathetic monks. She adjusted her jacket and glared upwards towards one of them, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. They were saying something to her, but she didn't quite understand. She got grabbed by the upper half of her right arm and dragged out of the room. To the girl's surprise, she noticed her ankle was free of any pain. The sprain she had received yesterday was really bad, but she was walking as if it had never happened. _Should I be thanking the parasite for that,_ Lenore asked herself. After getting roughly directed for a good five minutes, Lenore broke free from the grasp. "You can show me where to go, but don't treat me like an animal," she wiped off the incriminating fingerprints from the monk as she heard one familiar word. _Mierda_ and nothing more was muttered from the angry monk in red. Relieved not to be treated like a dog, she followed behind the monks. Each hallway they passed was elegant in design. Beautiful lavender or powder blue walls with gilded ivy designs decorated the walls that had many lovely portraits of past residents of the castle. Each portrait the person wasn't smiling, but rather glaring ahead. They all seemed smug to a fault. Lenore watched as the monks came to a halt and opened up a white door for her. The last monk handed Lenore a fresh pair of clothes that had been taken out of her suitcase and a pair of shoes that weren't hers. "Buckles?" she asked herself curiously as she studied the leather shoes. They were a child's size and seemed to be a perfect fit.

She stepped into the room as the monks closed the door behind her. She gave a quick yell when she heard the door "click." They had locked her in. Setting the clothes on a shelf, she took to studying the small room and was pleasantly surprised at which room they had been chosen to lock her in. It was a small and rather simply decorated bathroom. There was a large floor to ceiling window that looked out over a forest. Rich purple curtains accented the large window as well. An old-fashioned toilet had been centered in a corner and an equally old porcelain sink with a gilded mirror was hanging over the sink. What delighted Lenore, however, was the claw-foot tub. She had never seen one before and it was just charming! She found a good set of towels, starchy and rough from being air-dried and set them on top of her clothing. Lenore put the plug into the ivory tub and began running as hot of water as she could get. She snagged a very perfume-fragranced soap and an unlabeled bottle that seemed to be shampoo and set them beside the tub. She knew she stunk from the experiences she had had the previous night and a bath would be the very thing to wash it away. The sound of the water burbling out of the faucet and the small plumes of steam was a welcoming sight to her. She waited to turn the water off just as it reached the top of the tub and then wasted no time in peeling her mucky clothes off to soak in the steamy waters.

The poor girl barely had enough time to clean herself off and wash her hair when she heard the click of the door unlocking. Lenore was still relaxing in the tub when she saw the white-faced monk peering inward. She gave an embarrassed screech, chucking the bar of soap as hard as she could at the man, only to have it hit the wall inches beside the monk's right arm. The other two flanked beside the red-robed man, apparently not bothered by the sight of the flustered and nude woman. She reached around behind her and grabbed the sage green towel, climbing out of the tub to quickly wrap it around her uncovered form. "I'm not dressed yet, you freaks!" Lenore's face was a brilliant shade of red as the head monk nonchalantly shoved the girl's clothes towards her. "Get out, _por favor!"_ She was glaring daggers at the three monks as they finally left Lenore, dripping wet, to towel off and clothe herself.

She slowly opened up the squeaky door, the towel over her wet hair, and saw the Three Stooges as she had dubbed them, standing parallel to the door. The clothes that had been picked out for her were her usual black ensemble; a black mock-turtleneck sweater with a pair of faded gray jeans. The shoes that they had snagged for her were a little snug and nowhere near as comfortable as the sneakers that were probably still sitting in the Water Room. She narrowed her eyes at the monks as they began to speak to her. She caught the name "Lord Saddler," the Spanish word for "church," and something that sounded like "ritual." She gave a slight nod of her head, pretending to understand every word they said, even occasionally throwing in a _"si"_ wherever she found appropriate. The monk to the left of the one in the middle, or "Moe," put a hand lightly on Lenore's back, ushering her to follow behind "Larry" and "Curly." During this trip Lenore truly realized how huge the Salazar castle was. It took them fifteen minutes to come upon the large gathering of _Los Illuminados_ followers, and not once did they ever pass by an area that Lenore recognized as familiar. She also had a feeling that the areas she seen was only the tip of the iceberg.

All of the monks, or at least the majority of them, were in black habits with hoods pulled over their heads. The few that were in red robes had decorative ox skulls put over their heads as they led the large group in their eerie chants. The room that they were situated in was very large and had an almost theatre quality to it. Humongous marble pillars reached up to the ceiling that had to be at least 100 yards or more overhead. A large balcony stood in the middle of the farthest wall and was accented with rich blue curtains. A metal plaque decoration depicting a battle between a knight and a chimera separated Lenore and the rest of the group from going through to the other room. The Three Stooges separated from Lenore to join their fellow monks and leave her out in the open. The chanting was haunting the way that they did it in unison. It was rhythmic and precise. "_Morir es vivir, Morir es vivir,"_ the ox skull monks chanted, their arms spread wide in flourish as the black robed followers pitched in their voices to add to the echo around the humongous audience hall. Lenore shuddered. She rubbed at her left ear; the low sound of a whistle could be heard drawing closer. She could best describe it as what a dog must hear with a dog whistle. She gritted her teeth at the sound, putting both hands over her ears as the sound was right on top of her and then-

"My dear Lenore," it was Saddler, that serpentine voice she could recognize in English _and_ Spanish, "I hope everyone has properly accommodated you." He placed a black-nailed hand on her right shoulder, causing Lenore to tighten her shoulder muscles in disgust. She hadn't forgotten what Luis had told her about the man.

She slowly turned to face the eerie man in purple," M-more or less." She noted the tight-lipped smile he gave her, as if he had known all along what Mendez had done to her. As if she was nothing more than an expendable object.

"Good, good," he drew out, walking past the girl and towards his loyal monks, whom had grown dead silent upon seeing their master. The cult leader turned slowly to face the new Castellan, "I think now is the perfect time to enlighten you of your…_duties."_ He gave a light chuckle as the red robed monks parted ways to let their leader descend the first flight of stairs in the massive room. In what seemed to be rehearsed movement, they each descended the stairs, two at a time, in perfect step only to part once more and keep their head bowed in reverence to Saddler.

"D-duties?" Lenore choked out, "and what do they include?" She timidly stood at the top of the steps, looking down over the creepy group. She kept her eyes on Saddler, the one that had turned her life upside down and was only getting started.

"For many centuries it was your family that protected our religion's main accessory,_ Las Plagas. _Your cousin, Ramon, made it his life's duty to keep these parasites strong," Saddler lightly flourished with his arms," He kept my loyal followers sheltered and in turn they offered him protection. He assisted me in the most sacred of rituals, Lenore. You have yet to see a true _Los Illuminados_ ritual and I feel you can truly be accepted as a Castellan of _your_ castle once you participate in a proper ceremony."

_No way in hell,_ was what Lenore wanted to say, but that odd whistling in her head seemed to be scrambling her thoughts. What escaped her mouth left her surprised," I would be pleased to join the ceremony, my Lord." She watched in shock as her body moved without her control down the stairs and beside the man she had just called _her_ Lord! She wanted to scream, but nothing came out. Saddler extended his left hand as Lenore put hers in his ice cold grip. The chanting of the monks started up again as they followed their leader and the diminutive woman out the large wooden double doors. Against her will and control, Lenore was led by the man in purple to some area outside the castle. Stone walls raised high into the air, as if they were reaching for the morning sky. The large stones were still cold from the night before as she brushed past them, the silent procession of cultists following close behind. They finally stopped upon a large stone platform, the ground far beneath them. A large stone altar, covered with red satin cloth that had the _Illuminados_ insignia proudly painted onto the fabric draped loosely over the altar. Two tall candelabras, gilded in gold and silver, had small candles flickering in the morning sun. In the middle of the altar was a book bound in some odd-looking leather and a ceremonial dagger, the hilt formed to the familiar insignia Lenore had been encountering all over.

The crowd of cultists separated to let a person in a pure white robe, the black insignia painted on the back of the outfit, to step up to the altar. Lenore looked up to see the face of a young woman. She figured it was one of the villagers by the greasy unkempt hair and sun-tanned face. She kept her head down as Saddler took the book and dagger off the altar. He said something to the woman in Spanish as she nodded her head once. The lowest chanting could be heard coming from the red-robed monks; the ones in black staying silent with their eyes plastered on the white-robed peasant girl.

_"Si, Lord Saddler,"_ the young woman replied, giving a deep bow to the leader of the ritual. She turned to stare Lenore straight in the face, her eyes bloodshot, "_Si, Senorita Salazar."_ She took her weathered shoes off and slid onto the altar, praying in Spanish as Saddler lightly pushed the woman down onto the red fabric.

Lenore still couldn't run or speak. She wanted to escape, knowing that something very, _very_ bad was about to happen but her legs were glued to the ground. The short woman could only stare up to Saddler, who had opened up the large tome. That was when she looked up to see the cultist leader hand her the dagger. Her heart dropped at what she was anticipating. She took it in her grasp and held it tightly against her, trying her best to throw the weapon over the castle walls and run away. Her body remained dutifully beside Lord Saddler. He then began to preach, his voice low as he held his right hand over the village woman that was praying alongside the man. The chorus of monks began their same eerie chant. It was so low that all Lenore could hear was a droning buzz of voices in unison. The sun had begun its lazy ascent into the sky, but it was still low behind the many trees that dotted the expansive forest.

Saddler circled around the altar to where his back was facing the many monks, whose voices had begun to heighten along with their lord's. The woman on the altar had her hands clasped over her stomach in a praying position but she kept silent. It was then Lenore felt her legs moving closer to the altar, the dagger pointed outward. Despite the fright she was feeling inside, her face was void of any emotion. Saddler stood to the right of Lenore, an evil smile on his lips as he kept reading from the book. Lenore stopped inches shy of the altar and stared into the eyes of the villager. She was distant, removed from where she was at, but at the same time she looked…proud. _Oh no, oh no, oh no! _Lenore was screaming inside her head, slowly raising the ceremonial dagger over the woman's chest. The villager's mouth grew tense as she started to pray.

"Now," Saddler told Lenore in a tone where only she could hear it. The man was urging her to finish up the ritual to sacrifice the peasant. Lenore was screaming, yelling for her hands to stop as the dagger grew closer and closer to the woman's chest. Nothing she could do, no thought could be uttered as she gave a silent scream when the dagger plunged deep into the woman's chest. The villager gave a small gasp at the dagger, but a smile crossed her face. The once white robe began to stain with blood as Lenore carved out the woman's heart. The villager grew silent as Lenore pulled the still beating organ out of the woman's chest and held it high over her head, the red liquid dribbling down her arm and onto her blond hair. Saddler then stepped beside Lenore and reached into the woman's chest and pulled out an odd…_thing._ It was a single eye that had pieces of brain matter and flailing tentacles. It actually _shrieked_ as the sun touched its skin, turning into nothing more than ash that got blown away by a northeasterly breeze. The large gathering of monks all bowed to one knee in front of the sacred ritual that had been performed in front of them.

Saddler took the heart out of Lenore's small hands to hold it in his own. Using the pointer finger of his right hand, he punctured the heart to let the blood soak his long nail. Lenore turned obediently to look up at the man, shock running through her entire body as he began to draw the _Illuminados_ insignia on her forehead. With a cold smirk, he told her, "Welcome to _Los Illuminados _faith."

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_A/N: Woo hoo! Another chapter done! It was a touch slower than my others, but I hope you can forgive me. My mind has been so clouded these past couple days that I had trouble with ideas. Expect more of Luis in my next chapter, though! _


	8. Tortured Souls

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews, my fellow humans! I really enjoy your input and every review I get urges me to write! I promised you Luis in this chapter and I do plan on making this a Luis Sera heavy chapter. He's really a suave gentleman, if not a bit of a womanizer, which makes it really hard for me to get wrapped around his character. I'm a Role-Player that has a lot of guy characters, so it's not too difficult to write from a guy's standpoint; in fact, I'd rather write as a guy than a female. Hee…_

_True, this chapter has Luis in it, but it also has a bit of the history about the cult and parasite along with Luis's views on it. __There are__ a few iffy things and foggy facts about the cult and parasite, so I'm just trying to figure out some things about it in this chapter so I'm bound to get several facts wrong. Lo siento._

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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Tortured Souls

The building was as dark gray as the heavy clouds outside and built like a prison. Men in soldiers' uniforms patrolled the perimeter of the facility, wooden shields in one hand and flails in the other. A ripple of lightning cut through the sky like a knife through butter as four white-robed men stood in an icy room, hunched over their latest experiment. Eight eyes locked onto the creature on the gurney with mottled grey skin. Several incisions had been cut into the flesh and kept open with silver clamps. The white surgical masks kept their breath from rising in the chilled room, but the sweat had begun to appear on the face of one of the men. The creature that lay before them had been experimented on so much that it no longer seemed human. The arms were long, more in an apish proportion than man. A long slit through its face revealed sharp piranha-like teeth and sunken-in eyes glowed bright red up towards the ceiling. This was Project R-011. Once again the project had died on the operating table, the ragged asthmatic breathing had stilled as the gentle rising and falling of its chest had stopped. The _Plagas_ had once again refused to take hold in R-011's system, leaving the creature to slowly die. Only a handful of the R-011's had managed to live and they had been holed up in an isolation chamber deep within the island's research facility.

The four scientists watched as the parasites still wriggled in the open cuts, only to become still. One of the heavier scientists took the gurney to wheel it off to the incineration room and dispose of their latest failure. The other three let out an exhausted sigh, taking off their surgical masks to let the steam from their breath rise up to the ceiling. One of the scientists was Luis Sera; his lean face was soaked in sweat despite the temperature of the room. He muttered something about taking a smoke break to the other two scientists as he stepped outside of the room and promptly discarded the white lab coat onto a rack. He was silently cheering about another project not surviving. He hated it; he hated playing God and creating horrible abominations for the twisted man Osmund Saddler. At first he had been enthusiastic for the job, he was straight out of a Madrid University with a Bio-engineering and Chemistry degree that he had worked years to attain and the cult leader had quickly discovered him. Luis had worked part-time as a police officer to get enough money to propel him through college and despite the thankless job; it had gotten him to where he was now. Luis exited the facility to stand on the bleak balcony that overlooked Saddler's island, a cigarette in his mouth and a silver lighter in his right hand. He lit the slim cigarette up as a small plume off smoke lifted into the air only to get blown away by a stiff breeze.

He recalled the region of Spain he was in as a youth. His grandparents had lived very close to the village and Luis always looked forward to the coming of autumn so he could go hunting with his grandfather. The villagers were always pleased to see the "city boy" arrive in the humble village. Their warm smiles and open doors had always been the most enjoyable thing to Luis, because whether or not he was successful in his hunt, he knew that they'd always have a warm dinner ready for him. He recalled the day his grandfather had died, it had been about a year prior to Saddler scouting down the old resting place of the _Plagas_ parasites. His grandfather had made Luis promise to keep the little _pueblo _close in his heart and to not forget where he came from. The Spaniard had kept his promise, but had seen the village take a severe turn for the worst. While Luis had left the village to return to Madrid to finish his schooling, Saddler had managed to brainwash the young Ramon Salazar to get access to the _Las Plagas_ that his family had locked up so many centuries ago. The parasite infection had swept through the formerly peaceful village like wildfire. People Luis had known like family got swept up into _Los Illuminados_ because of Saddler's crazy promises and slick words. The man promised them eternal peace and unity, he had preached that if they accepted _Las Plagas_ into their system that they would live in a world without strife, without anger, and every person would be equal. Sufficed to say everyone believed this man in purple.

The cigarette shifted slightly in his mouth as he continued to recall the less than pleasant past about the village. The quiet village, the simple people that lived there, had their lives turned upside down within a matter of months. Saddler had convinced Ramon Salazar to release the centuries old seal on his property that housed the dormant parasites. From what Luis had heard from the villagers, Ramon had lost his parents when he was but a toddler and had grown up without any parental figures. Luis assumed that might have been the reason how come the youth was so easily swayed to assist Saddler in opening the grounds up that had the parasites. The first castellan had recognized the evils of the _Los Illuminados_ cult and the _Las Plagas._ There had been a mass genocide of _Los Illuminados_ followers early on in the start of the cult following the first castellan's suspicions about the religion. He had then taken it upon himself to continue the building of the castle over the _Las Plagas_ grounds to make sure no more cult followers could get their hands on the parasites. Many centuries had passed since then and many castellans had let the horrors of the cult disappear into the recesses of time. It was with the eighth castellan that all hell broke loose for the little village.

Luis discarded the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it with the ball of his foot. His curiosity had been piqued at the sudden death of Ramon. The best that the researcher could conclude was that the parasite had rejected its host by the wounds he had discovered on the youth's body. _If Saddler already had the Plagas mines open, then why does he need the girl?_ Luis had been asking himself that same question for weeks since searching the Salazar family lineage. Saddler already had everything he needed to continue the reign of his horrible religion. As smart as the Spaniard was, he was baffled by Saddler's true intentions for the American woman. Saddler had a deep loathing for Americans, so why would he suddenly tell Luis to find the woman and send invitations to let her take the place of Ramon? It just left him confused and with a bad feeling. Upon his initial meeting with Lenore, she seemed clueless, naive. No way could she fulfill Ramon's place. Ramon had been cold and calculating, coming up with things a person so young shouldn't even be thinking. He had been evil.

Any further ponderings he had was cut off from a small beeping sound coming from his vest's breast pocket. He raised a brown eyebrow as he pulled the communicator out. It resembled a Palm Pilot with a smaller screen and small radio. He pulled the antennae up as he saw a face come into focus, only broken up by the occasional static. It was a woman with short black hair and appeared to have Asian descent. As she spoke, her voice was cool and calm," What's the news, Luis?"

He let a slight grin appear on his handsome features," So far nothing, _Bonita._ The Big Kahuna is none the wiser." Luis let his grin fade a bit as the woman refused to return his smile, despite the slight flirtatious nature behind her almond eyes.

"You've been able to secure the parasite sample…right?" she inquired Luis. Apparently he played second fiddle to the mission at hand.

The researcher paused, and then nodded his head," It's good. Now when exactly shall I be expecting to see you here?"

"In due time, Luis, in due time," she let a small smile appear on her beautiful face, "I expect you've got everything finished on your part."

Luis shook his head,"A problem has come up. The American girl, Lenore, is a Master _Plaga _carrier. It's been maturing quicker than I anticipated."

The woman glanced through the static frequency at Luis. Her expression was hard as if she was debating what to tell him. Finally she replied, "If she becomes one of _them_ kill the girl. She'd be too much of a liability to bring back to the States." Her expression faded into almost sympathy and guilt at what she had just told Luis.

He felt himself grow cold at the mention of killing Lenore. It certainly hadn't been her fault to get dragged into the whole mess. Luis gave another pause, "Consider it done, Ada." And with that, the transmission ended, leaving Luis with white noise. He pocketed the communicator to lean heavily on the iron railing, a light rain finally falling from the oppressive clouds.

_Kill her, kill the girl,_ Luis repeated the phrase over and over in his mind. If only it was that easy to consider the girl just another _Ganado_. He certainly wasn't attached to the little woman, but it didn't mean that he'd off her without a second thought. Luis was no cold-blooded killer; he was no hardened person when it came to dealing with murder. The rain soaked his hair, causing it to cling to his tanned face as he looked down at the soldiers patrolling the facility. They had been ordinary men with families and lives, but since the infection of the parasite, they had lost any sense of empathy or understanding. They were merely beasts anxious to please their master. It was truly pitiful. How the girl would be after the _Plaga_ parasite fully matured, he didn't know. With the exception of one, the villagers had turned into Saddler worshipping freaks. People Luis had known forever suddenly transformed into violent murderers. He turned away from the balcony to disappear into the prison-like facility, promising himself not to see Lenore fall under Saddler's twisted control like all the others had.

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_A/N: A shorter chapter, so I do apologize. I did read my most recent reviews so I hope this answers at least one question. This is indeed an Alternate Universe; I just need to change the A/N of my first chapter to make it positive to all the readers. I don't intend on putting Leon or Ashley into the __fanfic__, but I never intended to put Ada in it, so you never know. I deeply appreciate every one of the people that reads my fan-fiction, so I take into consideration every critique to make my story as good as possible! _


	9. Dying Inside

_A/N: Sorry about not updating in a while, my humans, but I've been devoting a lot of my time to a Role-Play with fellow writer Depravado. The story's really been on the back of my mind I hate to say. Anytime I get a good idea going something'll pop up or my mind will completely forget about what to write. It's horrendous! I expect this might be a shorter chapter, but I'm just trying to get the wheels moving for the plot of the story. _

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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Dying Inside

Lenore had fled to the bathroom after the ritual, her body becoming hers once more. She was in too much shock to cry or do anything else than to escape Saddler and the cultists. With her own two hands she had killed someone and had no control over it! She had felt the beating heart in her palm and had the villager's blood run down her arm. She could feel the wet, sticky liquid trickling down her forehead and saw it in her field of vision. The girl just wanted to run, to escape the castle at any means necessary! Only when she had made it to the bathroom her rapidly beating heart began to slow down to normal and that was when she broke down to cry. Lenore stared into her blood-stained hands, aware of what she had done as she put them over her eyes and wept. She slumped down into a corner in the bathroom beside the large window trying to regain any sense of reasoning. She knew so long as that parasite was in her that she was Saddler's little puppet that he could control to do anything. Luis had promised her he had a device that could save her, protect her humanity but deep down inside Lenore was really doubtful that she'd last a month.

Tears flowed freely down her face and intermingled with the peasant woman's blood that were on Lenore's cheeks. She tried to hold back her tears but the more she tried to control her woes the worse it got. After a good twenty minutes the young woman managed to get her emotions in check as she rose to clean the crimson liquid off her in the sink. She began to wash the blood off her hands, recalling the famous line in _Macbeth_.

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" she sniffed loudly, feeling suddenly very close to the doomed characters of Shakespeare's work. She watched as the red-tinted water disappeared down the sink, her eyes leveling on her image in the mirror. Her eyes were red from the crying as well as her face, giving Lenore a very pathetic look. Her gaze traveled upwards to the _Illuminados_ insignia Saddler had drew on her forehead. She narrowed her eyes angrily and began to scrub the symbol off her skin with a wash cloth. Content that she had washed off the nasty liquid she slumped down once more at her little corner in the bathroom and drew her knees up to her chin. That was when she broke down again. She wasn't a strong person; she was very weak physically and mentally. No matter what a strong front she'd put up, it was always knocked down. She buried her face into her knees and wept.

The sound of thunder and lightning rippling through the heavy grey sky woke the girl up. _I must have cried myself to sleep,_ Lenore thought as she pulled her small form off the floor. The sky was illuminated with the streaks of lightning and the drum roll of thunder added to the constant depressing nature of Lenore's prison. She wondered how a place so decadent and rich worth millions upon millions of gold could become such a prison. She had often heard tales of lavish excess could lead to the noble owner's mental ruin. The girl feared that was what was happening to her. She knew she just had to stick in this prison long enough for Luis to get that device.

_Grumble…._the low sound started in Lenore's stomach as she drug her feet along the hallways after finally getting enough energy to leave the bathroom. She was hungry despite the horrendous thing she had committed earlier that morning. It had just hit her that she hadn't eaten since early yesterday in her little apartment. The rumbling of her stomach grew louder as she passed by a small procession of praying cultists. They didn't pay Lenore any heed much to her relief, but she knew that she'd have to find a kitchen somewhere. Certainly a place this big would have an equally grandiose kitchen. Unfortunately, from all her exploring yesterday she didn't see any signs of a kitchen or even any dining rooms. _Do these people even eat?_ She questioned herself, putting pressure on her stomach to lessen the loud rumbling from within.

"_Donde es la cocina, por favor?" _Lenore finally gathered up enough courage to ask a black-robed monk that seemed to be standing listlessly around. His expression frightened the already jumpy Lenore as he grumbled a bit at her horrendous Spanish. She watched him as he began to walk off, only turning around to urge the girl to follow him. Her footsteps were light and quick as she tried to keep up with the _Illuminados_ cultist. He certainly wasn't in the mood to chauffer the girl around, but then again, he had nothing else to do with his time. Lenore's eyes travelled to the décor as the white-faced man opened up a rather understated wooden door. Unlike all the other lavish accessories and furniture in the rest of the castle, it was decorated simply with wrought iron wall sconces and very old oil paintings of somber-faced children. The hallway was long with large grey stones and mildew-stained tapestries depicting the people of Salazar Castle in what Lenore guessed was the late 16th century. Moths had eaten at the corners of the tapestries and had made holes in some of the little embroidered people's bodies. Once more Lenore noticed the macabre theme of the past Castellans. Knights were standing with their lances in their enemies chests while the people Lenore assumed were the Castellans were smiling and enjoying a fine spread of wine and fancy meats. She shuddered.

"_Senorita Salazar,"_ the cultist snapped the fingers on his right hand to get her attention, _"La cocina." _He then opened up another wooden door for her to let her enter first. Lenore gave a humble bow of thanks and darted quickly into the kitchen to see if they had anything worth eating. Her eyes glanced backwards to see that the monk had left her to scavenge up food on her own. The kitchen was of average size, but definitely not what she had imagined. To her surprise it was still very much like an old world kitchen. Nothing was run electrically nor did it seem there was any refrigeration system. Large legs of ham hung on hooks and in the darkened kitchen it reminded Lenore of how a body would hang. Fruits that had way exceeded their expiration date had turned to mush in a large glazed porcelain bowl and the lazy buzz of flies circled around the bowl. The stinky scent of the fruit wafted up to Lenore's nostrils as she covered her nose with both hands. She saw several loaves of bread that had gone stale and had been left out for the mice and rats of the castle.

After rummaging through a few drawers, Lenore found some potatoes and red onions. Being allergic to onions, that food source wasn't an option. She found some leafy vegetables that had dried up a long time ago and what looked to be a small jar of beans. "Great," she mumbled," Do these people even eat?" Lenore couldn't cook without the aid of a microwave oven, so her choices were dwindling fast. More searching found a few bottles of a deep red wine and chipped wine glasses. Despising any alcoholic beverage, she begrudgingly admitted that might be the best option for her as far as drinks go. She once more turned her focus towards the massive legs of ham. It was preserved and the insects seemed to be more centered on the fruit than the ham. Pulling a large butcher's knife out of a slim drawer, Lenore made her way to the closest ham. She felt uneasy about cutting the thing since she never used knifes on a daily basis and the last time she used a knife she was at a former place of employment and had cut right through her thumb. She still had the scar.

"Alright," Lenore gulped, standing on her tiptoes to get a better reach of the bottom of the ham, "Here goes." The knife went like butter through the pig's meat, much to Lenore's relief as she carved several large pieces onto an ivory plate. She grabbed a slice of stale bread and poured herself some deep red wine. Not quite the Peerless, but the starving woman couldn't argue. She raised the wine glass with little enthusiasm,"Here is to dining in royalty. Here is to a new life alone. All hail…" She then took a sip of the wine, trying her best to keep from spitting it back out. The bread about broke her teeth, but at least the ham tasted like it should. As she sat by her lonesome enjoying "life's finest," she heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the narrow hallway. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to find another escape route. Lenore was in no mood to see the cultists or have to risk seeing that psychopath Saddler. Much to her relief there was another door that was almost hidden behind a large vase. She pushed the vase away and disappeared into the other passageway.

The sound of water dripped down the walls and Lenore noticed a considerable drop in temperature. It was pitch black, so it urged Lenore to take the small flashlight out of her fanny pack and turn it on. It was a downwards spiraling stairway that led to who knows where, but at least it kept her from having to go to another ritual. She kept her left hand on the cold, damp walls and her right held the flashlight tightly. She kept her eyes peeled and ears alert for any signs of movement that might be coming up from the black stairway or behind her. Lenore knew the cultists weren't dumb, so for all she knew there was one waiting for her at the bottom of the spiral staircase. The farther down it went, the more frightened the girl became. Being quite a buff of horror movies and ghost stories, her mind easily flew to some hairy beast that might be scrambling its way up the stairs in a very strange manner. Missing a step, Lenore gave a muffled shriek as she fell down, getting the seat of her pants wet and scraping the back of her right calf. Mumbling obscenities, Lenore pulled herself up to see that she was at the bottom of the staircase. Her flashlight bounced over several black objects that she couldn't recognize. It was a large room, alright, but she didn't know its purpose until she drew close to a very large device.

"Oh...my…," she put a hand over her mouth upon recognizing what it was. It was an Iron Maiden, and by the looks of it, hadn't been used for many years. It was locked and Lenore had no interest in opening it up. The pale yellow light bounced over other torture devices she recognized. There was a large stretching rack that was stained with blood from years back and some sort of iron cage. She also saw some huge wheel that was stained with blood. Many rows of prison cells lined up on both walls, their doors wide open from the last prisoners that had drawn their last breaths there. Her eyes traced along a large guillotine that was displayed proudly on a platform. She backed up, her flashlight creating odd shadows over the various torture devices as her heart hammered rapidly inside her chest. She had to get out of here! Lenore went to run back up the steps when she turned and tripped over something that sent her falling onto the cold floor, the flashlight falling out of her grasp and under the rack. She pulled herself up and turned around to see what it was, expecting the worst. Her eyes turned slowly, ever so slowly and then she let out a laugh. She had tripped over her fanny pack. It must have come loose and she didn't notice. She let her laugh die down as she crawled along the floor to get it and hook it back around her waist. Lenore heard the distinctive chirps and squeaks of small rats as they scurried around the edges of the Executioner's Room. She cautiously made her way to her flashlight as her eyes travelled over to what shiny object her flashlight was shining on.

Lenore plucked the light up to see it was another suit of armor. An unusually large suit at that and there was something carved onto its chest. She squinted into the light as she read, "_Los dos __Verdugos__…" _There were some more words in Spanish such as _"__matar__"_ and "_Los Illuminados."_ The last two words Lenore was very familiar with, but the new one ",_Verdugo__s__,"_ baffled her. She then began to look back at the other eerie death devices in the room and the guillotine as she spoke with a hush, "The two Executioners…" It was then that she heard a low inhuman growl echoing from one of the prison cells…

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_A/N: Sorry for the lack of an update last week. I've been very depressed and trying to fight it off. College is coming to a close so I've also been wrapped up in studying. I hate that I made the first few paragraphs so depressing and the middle so boring, but as I've said, depression is a pain in the rear, __y'know_

_Please make me happy and read and review, por favor!!_


	10. Falling to Pieces

_A/N- I'm so sorry for having to make you wait so long between updates, but I've been working with wrapping college up and then Microsoft Word decides to stop working for me. Ugh! Then there's the problem with writer's block. I'm sure you all have heard that __li'l__ song and dance a time or two before, so I'll spare you the details. _

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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Falling to Pieces

Lenore didn't even want to turn around. That sound had sent a chill running down her spine as her grip on the flashlight loosened. The cells, to her knowledge, _had _been empty! Whatever creature that had manifested itself in the prison cell had to be huge. Slowly and with bated breath, the diminutive girl turned her head to see what had made that unearthly sound. Her flashlight bounced off the rack, off the dark stones of the room and right onto some _thing. _It had some sort of rock-hard yet shiny black exoskeleton; dark red flesh peeked out from under the gaps in the exoskeleton. Now Lenore was starting to sweat as she forced herself to pull the flashlight up farther to make out the face of the thing that she was pretty damn convinced would be devouring her alive. Her flashlight travelled up, up to at least eight feet in height before stopping on a ghost-white fleshy face. Spider-like mandibles moved hungrily as Lenore's flashlight stood transfixed upon glowing red eyes. This beast looked like it had stepped right out of an H.R. Giger painting and it made the young girl's knees go weak. Was this one of the Executioners? If so, where was the other?

Her flashlight bobbled on the beast as it drew closer. She had to pull herself out of the shocked state she was in and began to back away from the obviously irate Executioner. The tail was long and Lenore saw a glint of some scythe-like point on the end; curved and deadly. Her mind was working overtime to find a way to get the creature to keep from drawing closer. Lenore thought she could throw her flashlight at it, but that would mean trying to find her way out of the Executioner's Room in absolute darkness. Lenore also debated about toppling the suit of armor over beside her to pull its attention to the loud crash rather than her, but the girl knew that she was far too weak to pull that off either. One word came out of her mouth," Shit."

Lenore knew what the creature was planning to do the minute it started hunkering down and twitching the tip of its tail. She had watched cats make that very same movement just before they were going to kill a mouse. The Executioner was the cat and she was the mouse! Before a scream could escape Lenore's throat, she felt an arm wrap around her chest from behind and drag her out of the way seconds before the Alien-esque thing could tear her apart. The shock of the moment had her temporarily dazed before she saw a Red9 hovering over her head aimed directly at the beast.

"Luis?!" the startled girl managed to choke out, her flashlight dancing on the Spaniard's lean face. By the grim expression set on his lips and intensity in his eyes, the girl knew it was no time for questions. He had saved her and that was all she needed to know. She quickly brought her hands up to her ears as Luis fired off two shots into the fleshy head of the Executioner. The beast simply shook the shots off as if a mosquito had bit it and rounded on the pair. Luis had an unusually collective cool about him, a far difference to the shaking and frightened Lenore.

"Try to see if you can get it to follow you to the guillotine! Quick!" Luis told the girl, who shot him a baffled look, "Now! Hurry!"

Not quite sure if Luis was sending her on a suicide run, Lenore quickly darted away from man and beast as she heard more bullets being fired from the researcher's gun. Her flashlight bobbled up and down as Lenore dove up for the platform the guillotine was on, bruising her shins in the process of pulling herself up. Indeed what Luis told her to do was true; the Executioner turned its head and started to follow the bouncing yellow light. Luis, watching the petite girl and hissing beast, slowly started to circle around so he could instruct Lenore on the next thing to do. If he had known the Salazar family well enough in his research of them, was that they had an affinity for booby traps and trap doors. He kept the laser sight of the Red9 pointed on the back of the Verdugo's head, unsure of what its next movement would be.

Lenore was in a panic, her head was moving left and right to figure out why exactly Luis wanted her up near the creepy device only to be chased by the creepier monster. The castellan's eyes momentarily flickered over a strange round device imbedded at the side of the guillotine. She saw her family crest upon it and had a feeling that this wasn't a necessary part to the decapitating of someone on the guillotine. A hiss drawing closer snapped her out of her thoughts as she saw the black-bodied Verdugo draw near. Without even giving her mind a chance to think over what the device might do, she slammed her hand on it and put as much force as she could muster in her eighty-five pound body. She heard the sound of stones cracking and grinding under heavy weight while the sound of chains squeaking began beneath the floor. The Verdugo clicked its mandibles audibly as Luis immediately saw what exactly Lenore's device had done. There were little hinges set on the floor in the open area that spanned the distance between the rack and the guillotine. It was a trap door and the Verdugo was directly upon it. Luis found himself smirking despite the situation as he started to back away to a safe area.

The floor dropped open beneath the beast the minute it had started to get the same lunging position. Lenore watched as it seemed to stand on thin air for a split second before dropping down into the depths of the castle below. Her eyes simply stared into the abyss as it took her a second to realize what she had done. She had slain the beast! A grin formed upon her face as she let out an unintentionally loud laugh, slamming her hand onto the device once more to get the floor to go back to normal once more. "Ee hee hahahaha! That will put you in your place you miserable beast! Whatever you do, don't come back!"

Luis put the gun back in his hip holster as he motioned for the still laughing Lenore to come his way. He was impressed with the nerve that it took the young girl, but concerned about the way she had reacted after it was all said and done. Never once in his past encounter with the petite woman did she seem the type to show glee for disposing of anything, human or not. He put a hand on Lenore's shoulder as she drew closer," How have you been feeling? You have been using those pills I gave you, right?"

She gave a small nod of her head, avoiding eye contact with the Spaniard. His question immediately brought back to mind what had happened earlier that morning as her brief confidence in herself began to falter," I..killed...someone. I couldn't help it! That man…the one in the purple robes! He made me do it and, and I…couldn't stop myself."

Luis didn't know how to react. Already that bastard Saddler had gave her the initiation ritual. The sacrificing ritual that Luis loathed the man even more so for making the neutral Lenore participate in. He gritted his teeth a moment, trying to find something to say to keep from making the girl feel worse than she already did," I know you didn't mean to. It's just with that parasite Saddler has control over you and until we can get it out of you, your actions might not necessarily be your own."

Lenore went to open her mouth to speak, but as if on cue, she found herself coughing violently. _Not again, __dammit, _Lenore thought as she felt her chest constricting and insides twisting. She was struggling to breathe as she found herself doubling over in agony. Luis was close by, trying to keep the girl as steady on her feet as possible. Each time Lenore coughed, specks of blood would seep between her fingers. Her chest felt like something was writhing inside, burning and ready to burst out like an alien. Her eyes were tearing as she struggled to breathe. Lenore managed to pull in some air when she pulled her hands away from her mouth. During that quick interlude, she saw something that was flicking its way underneath her skin. Dark blue veins had started to weave their way down her arms. She started to scream but only managed to violently cough again.

Luis knelt down, putting both hands on the suffering girl's shoulders. So many times he had seen this happen to people he had known for years. He wished he could truly feel sorry for Lenore, but he had grown accustomed to watching people change to mindless puppets before his eyes. Luis did notice something with the Master Plaga inside Lenore that differed from the run-of-the-mill Plagas that had been given to the villagers. The fits were much more violent and lasted longer than normal. Typically they would cough for a little while and pass out. Lenore's fit had been going on for a good two minutes and he started to grow concerned seeing her not being able to take in air. He kept a firm grip on both her shoulders, urging her to breathe and fight it. Right before the girl blacked out, he saw her eyes take on a yellow color and then faze out as she closed them.

* * *

The rain had stopped falling over the island, but the cloud cover was still there. In the depths of the facility, beyond a laser-enforced hall, Osmund Saddler sat in his red-velvet lined throne. He was having a hard time figuring out why the Salazar girl wasn't showing any physical signs of having Las Plagas in her body. He had complete control over her, but for her body to be housing such a powerful parasite as the Master Plagas, her body seemed to show no signs of a change. Either he had underestimated the girl, which Saddler truly doubted, or someone was giving her something to slow down the growth of Las Plagas. 

Saddler knew it was beneficial to his plan to have the parasite fully mature in the girl and someone was getting in the way. The man had his suspicions on who the traitor was, but even then, he still needed that person alive long enough to perfect one last experiment before permanently disposing of the traitor. A cruel smile traced its way onto Saddler's lips as he thought of what to do. He wouldn't do anything with his own two hands just yet, but he knew the right person to use forceful tactics against the castellan to see if she had any growth suppressing pills on her. It would also give Saddler a good chance to see how loyal this newcomer truly was, too. Without making a sound, the cult leader got out of the throne and exited the cold room.

* * *

Luis had found a fainting chair to lay the poor girl down in as he took a seat in a chair adjacent to her. The cultists still trusted him, which on his part was a good thing. If they figured out what he was doing against their twisted faith, he'd already be dead. Luis always tried to stay on the neutral team, it had always been the best, but this was for his grandparent's village! This was to try to get rid of the horrendous man that dared to call himself lord! Luis had to do his best to keep from shooting the man every time he saw him, but he knew of how powerful Saddler was.

Luis sunk his head, looking down at the crimson floor with small deeper red ivy patterns that traced throughout. _Kill the girl, kill her, _Luis repeated that over and over in his mind. If only it was that easy! He knew he'd have to act when the time came, Ada wouldn't have it any other way but hers. Luis pulled himself out of the chair to see how much longer the girl had left before she became one of them. He put his pointer and middle finger up against her jugular, checking her pulse. It had slowed down considerably, even for a person at rest, which was not good. He had seen those veins on her arms as he had carried her through the castle. At least they had faded after the attack went away. The last thing he had seen was her eyes, that same horrendous shade of yellow that the past castellan had had after being "converted" over to Los Illuminados ways. Luis leaned close to the unconscious Lenore, wanting to make for certain that the effects of the parasite had went away, at least temporarily. Using a single finger from his right hand, he gently lifted the eyelid up in time to heart the girl give an audible groan.

"Finally awake, I see," Luis said calmly, backing away from the groggy girl.

"Y-you could say that," Lenore rubbed at the throbbing going on in her temples. Almost out of habit, she held her palms open in front of her to see her blood-soaked hands. She still felt sick from the convulsion.

The Spaniard leaned up against an ornate dresser, arms crossed over his chest. His face was serious; he was always serious anymore, "I hate to break to the chase, chica, but that attack you had earlier today tells me that you don't have much longer before you turn into one of Saddler's little freaks."

Lenore propped herself up on her elbows, blue eyes staring straight ahead at Luis," How long do I have?"

He shrugged, "Two days' tops. What that sorry excuse for a man put in you is much stronger and growing more rapidly than I had anticipated. Keep taking that medicine and I will do my best to get you something stronger and give it to you to hopefully keep that little bug under control."

Lenore already popped the cap off of the pill bottle and had two of the little pills in her hands. _It's so easy for you to say that because you're not going through it, _she thought to herself. Still, he had been trying to help her and she was thoroughly grateful. She swallowed the pills and grimaced. Finally, she nodded, "Okay, will do."

Luis patted the girl on the shoulder before turning to leave," I'll get you through this, even if worst comes to worst. Just promise to me that you will try to stay as positive as you can, Lenore." Once more the girl nodded.

* * *

_A/N: Ugh! Cheesiest ending ever! For those of you, and I know that you are, thinking I'm making this story Luis/Lenore, I'm not! I can't stand normal romance stories, let alone one with my original character falling for a game character! No! Luis is simply concerned for Lenore's own well-being. __Nothing more.__ Anyways, sorry for the long wait. Please read and review, my pretties!_


	11. DoubleAgents and DoubleCrossers

_A/N: I've finally decided to stop procrastinating and start writing again! On Christmas day, no less. Okay, I've been trying to think up ideas and things to keep the story moving along so give me some leniency; I haven't looked at my fic in a while. I plan on keeping the story moving long enough to introduce some good plot twists since it's been quite boring so far, right? I plan to entertain you. It's my job!_

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

* * *

Double-Agents and Double-Crossers

"How can I be strong? How can I stay positive?" Lenore asked herself out loud, not caring whether or not anyone was around. Luis had left the girl to her own thoughts, which were less than positive. The medicine he gave her wasn't strong enough to stop the growth of the parasite, he told her himself. Lenore slid off the fainting chair to exit the room, feeling enough energy seep back into her system after the coughing fit. She knew her days as a normal person was numbered. If Luis got her stronger medicine to fight off the parasite's growth, how would the side effects be? Would the cure be worse than the disease? Even if she got the medicine, would it even work? Saddler's little "gift" wasn't ordinary by any means. His "present" to her was a Master specimen of Las Plagas so she could fulfill her duties of the last castellan, her dear departed cousin that she didn't even know she had! Lenore had been screwed royally for lack of a better term.

She ran her small right hand through her hair, pulling a few strands out in the process. Lenore straightened one of her slender strands out and looked at it in confusion. It wasn't her platinum blond color but a light gray. Was this process truly wearing on her? Lenore gave an unhappy grumble as her footsteps echoed around the ornately decorated halls, pleasant in their own grandeur but a personal hell for the American girl. She kept her eyes on that single strand of gray hair, not noticing she was nearly upon a door before her forehead made contact with the white-painted door with gold-detailing around the edges. Lenore put her shoulder into the door as it opened up to reveal a dining hall that featured predominantly red furnishings and paint. _If no one ever eats here__ then what use is a dining room, _she questioned herself as she surveyed the room. It seemed to reek of that creepy man Saddler and she couldn't put a finger on it. Lenore heard no whistling in the back of her head nor did she see the man in the purple robe, but the place didn't feel safe.

She kept her steps as quiet as she could manage as she approached the long wooden tables, each one having a crimson red runner going length-wise down them and having dried-up floral bouquets in the middle. Bronze plaques hung on the walls and each seemed to be talking about food. One was about daily bread, the other dessert, and one about meat. Lenore stopped, however to read the last one on a wall beside a closed door.

"One last drink and the bottle breaks, returning us to the dust from whence we came," the diminutive woman read out loud, her eyes reading the etched words," That's morbid."

Not quite finished with exploring the dining hall, she stopped to look at a blank wall at the end of what looked to be a shooting gallery. She gave a startled jump, hearing the sound of a bell dinging right beside her as the wall flipped over to reveal a large oil painting depicting a bountiful spread of food. Her gaze looked down at the counter that barred her from walking straight over to the picture and touching it to see a little bronze bell that could easily be put in a store to get the attention of an employee. _But who rung it,_ she asked herself as her pulse quickened. Certainly she was the only one in this room. Her eyes looked ahead at the painting, her ears beginning to pick up on the sound of heavy breathing right behind her. She wasn't alone. Lenore felt her chest burning again and some little thing in the back of her brain was urging her to go! Go now! She started to dash off when a large hand grabbed her by the wrist, forcibly pulling her right arm behind her back and slamming her against the counter. She gave out a pained yelp as she struggled to escape.

"You move and I will break it," it was a man's voice, deep and full of authority. However, the thing she noticed most was the accent. It was an American! Lenore sunk her head to the table, too frightened to disobey this person. Giving another audible gasp, she felt her fanny pack ripped from around her waist and set down hard beside her. The man spoke again," I've heard rumors that you're taking some crap to slow that bug's growth down."

Lenore gave a sob and quickly shook her head, feeling like she was being interrogated by some police officer. The man behind her gave a cold chuckle and slammed a very large combat knife down into the wooden counter inches away from the girl's nose. She gave a loud scream as the man pushed her head into the counter. A chuckle once more escaped the stranger's lips, a tone of amusement in his voice," If you're lying to me I'm going to teach you a very painful lesson. Are we clear, shrimp?"

She nodded her head one time, feeling nauseous and anxious as she watched the man's extremely muscular arm reach out to grab her fanny pack from the counter, his other hand still keeping a vice-like hold on Lenore's right arm to keep her from running. She had already lied to the man and all she could focus on was the glinting metal blade of the knife. The castellan had no doubt that the man was serious. He rummaged through her pack, tossing out her wallet, car keys, passport, pens, and other small items until finally dropping the pack, finding what he had been looking for. The man set the little tan pill bottle on Lenore's left hand side in clear view of the girl but out of her reach. The harsh tone came out clearly," You lied to me, you little bitch! I should have expected as much. Now…who gave you this?"

Lenore kept quiet as her heart hammered inside her chest. She sniffed loudly as a hot tear of fright rolled down her cheek. It was enough that she was about to get maimed without pulling Luis into the whole mess. She kept her eyes on the knife but started to reach her left hand out to grab the bottle. Like hell she was going to tell this creep anything! She heard a chuckle as the next thing she knew the knife had been pulled out. Her fingers scraped the little cylindrical bottle to try to get a grasp on it. Before she had a chance to react, Lenore heard a loud _thunk_ as the knife was planted firmly into the middle of her left hand going straight into the wood of the counter. "Ah...Ah...Ah..." was all that Lenore could get to come out of her mouth as she wriggled the fingers on her left hand and stared dumbly at the large knife that had went right through to the counter. Blood began to seep from the wound as a whimper escaped her lips.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" the man then took the pill bottle off the counter and stuck it into a pocket on his desert camouflage fatigues. He didn't have to play nice with her and he had no intentions of doing so. Simply because the girl was a fellow American didn't mean shit to him. A smirk crept across his scarred face as he continued on," Tell me who gave you the pills. Old Man Saddler needs to know."

She choked out a whine as she started to shake her head, the pain now becoming very noticeable," N-no! I refuse to tell you!"

The man put his free hand on the hilt of the knife and dug it in just deep enough to make Lenore cry out more," I can do this all day. Now tell me the little sneak that gave you these drugs."

The young woman knew that she couldn't do it all day and whimpered in pain. Dammit, she had a low pain threshold and this was at the top of the list. Still, she knew she had to stay strong and not let Luis get dragged into this. She opened her mouth to speak, trying to fight off another whimper, "N-no! I won't! "

The man glared down at the tiny woman, aggravated that she wasn't talking. For a person to be whining and whimpering so much, she knew how to keep her mouth shut. He took his left hand off the knife and pulled the pill bottle out once more. If she refused to answer him, perhaps the little bottle would hold evidence to which scientist was sneaking her parasite growth suppressing pills. Ice blue eyes scanned the details on the bottle as he gave out a laugh at a pair of initials," L.S. To be scientists, they're foolish." The man leaned closer to the girl, giving her a chance to see his face as he smirked," Remember this, Shorty. If I find anymore of these little bottles I'll go after you and the scientist giving them to you. You'd be surprised at how many places there are to hide bodies and no one will ever find them."

The man pulled his knife out of Lenore's left hand and was gone. He had done what the cult leader had told him to do and had some fun in the process. Lenore quickly pulled her injured hand close to her body and fought off tears as she slumped down against the counter to fight off angry tears. She hurt, but that man with the scarred face knew who had given her the medicine and Luis was in danger. There was no way she could get in contact with the Spaniard and tell him to watch out for the man. He had also mentioned Saddler and fear rushed over her at the idea of what the cultist freak would do to him.

_No matter how f__ast your ship is sinking__, remember that you can still swim to shore._ Her grandfather on her mother's side had told her that long ago. She never put much thought to it until she had started to grow up. It was basically the same saying as "There's always a light at the end of the tunnel." To Lenore it looked like the light was fading rapidly. She spoke quietly to herself," I'll get outta here…I will. "

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_A/N- Okay that was a rather fun chapter to write! I suppose stuffing my face on ham and turkey all day gave me some creative juices! Once more I introduced a familiar character. I'm pretty sure you know who, too. And that knife in hand thing I just had to do. I couldn't help it! Since I wrote this on Christmas, I'm going to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!_


	12. Interrogation

_A/N- I admit it has been a while since I've wrote another chapter for the Ninth Castellan and I apologize for not writing any sooner. College has started again and I'm taking a writing course to hopefully get me inspired to write again. I'll get an idea in my mind but it dies on paper. I hope to change that around very soon. _

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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Interrogation

Through a microscope lens, the researcher Luis Sera quietly studied the specimen in the Petri dish. The specimen in the dish resembled an oversized microbe. Roundish square body, four whipping tendrils at the end, and little thorn-like implements attached to two of the tendrils. This was what a Plaga looked like matured outside of a host body. Alone, they were harmless but when injected into a person or animal they were deadly. Luis had seen many of the horrendous Las Plagas experiments and had most likely headed a lot of the projects. With slender fingers the researcher zoomed in with the microscope, watching as the parasite uselessly flailed its thorny tendrils. The Plaga was no bigger than a dime and about as thin.

"If only you knew how many people's lives you have ruined," Luis spoke in a hushed tone to the parasite. The man regretted what he had been doing in the name of science. He knew he was nothing more than a pawn for Saddler and not only had he unwittingly caused a lot of strife for the villagers but a young American woman had also gotten dragged into the mess. The weight on his shoulders and the guilt he carried was unbearable. Nevertheless, he knew he'd have to bide his time to contemplate the take down of the man and his brainless cult. Saddler was smart, though, and Luis knew he couldn't make but the most subtle of actions before one of the brainwashed goonies or the big man himself would kill him. It was a frightening thought but Luis just wanted to right his many wrongs.

A low hum of a ceiling fan could be heard overhead in the humid lab. Several medical utensils had been laid askew along with Petri dishes full of tissue samples from successful and unsuccessful projects alike. An odor of decay and formaldehyde permeated the small room that Luis worked in alone. A metal door, opened only by a cardkey, remained firmly locked to keep any prying eyes out of the laboratory. The few Ganado scientists Saddler had were inadequate and often left messes that Luis had to clean up. Their tactics were clumsy and frankly amateur, so it left the man from Madrid to work in solitary. He preferred it that way to be honest. Luis slid the microscope away, his back aching from leaning over for so long as he reared back and stretched. Each vertebra gave a loud pop as he stood up from the sliding stool to exit the room. He had promised Lenore that he was going to give her a stronger parasite growth inhibitor as soon as possible and Luis knew her clock was rapidly ticking.

By instinct he knew where to go. Down the long gray hallways, through the double doors, up two narrow flights of steps, through a door accessible only by a green cardkey, through another door, and to the left of yet another hallway to reach the medicine cabinet that kept the pills. However, this routine trip was shattered when he came upon the cabinet. The thick metal doors had been ripped off their hinges and thrown aside as if they were cardboard. The Spaniard's jaw hung slack at who even knew what that cabinet held. Only he knew the contents and now every last pill bottle had been stolen. "Shit!" was the first word to come out of his mouth as he drew closer, hoping beyond hope that there might be one bottle that the thief had overlooked. No such luck. He slammed a fist onto the cabinet, angry at himself for not having at least one bottle on hand in case such an event occurred.

"I knew you were the one peddling this crap to that girl," a deep voice, clearly American in accent, came from behind the researcher. The man was made of muscle, a tight black 5.11 shirt accented the man's strong arm muscles and pair of desert camouflage fatigues with dirty knee-pads was worn on his legs. Short blond hair, topped with a red beret was on his head. The most distinct feature of the mystery man was a nasty scar that ran horizontally along his face. He confidently had his large arms crossed over his chest, a triumphant smirk on his lips, "It's surprising how easy it is to track you down."

"Jack," Luis said through gritted teeth, taking his time to turn around and face the American," Only a baboon like you that sold his soul to the Devil would have enough strength to pull those doors off."

That comment struck a nerve with Jack as he uncrossed his arms and let them hang loosely by his side. It was clear that the two men had no liking for each other. In fact, hatred could perfectly describe their mutual feelings towards one another. The American stood his ground, deep blue eyes narrowing while he spoke," I have to hand it to you for keeping it a secret for so long. That girl is as stupid as the last one but nowhere near as sneaky as the little midget. I'm curious to know why exactly you want to help her. It's useless."

As inconspicuously as possible, Luis reached around with his right hand to get a hold of the Red9 he had stuck in the back of his pants. So long as he kept Jack talking, he knew that he'd be extending time for himself. Luis scoffed," Whether or not you care to admit it, _Jack,_ Saddler has you wrapped around his little pinky. You are no more than Ganado scum! The big man tells you what to do and like the trained dog you are, you follow. Why I was helping Lenore is because I don't want to see her become a lackey like you."

In the blink of an eye, Jack had went from standing ten feet away from Luis to pushing him against the wall, a large combat knife held securely in his grip. The shock of the attack had caused the Spaniard to lose the grip on the gun and have it clatter to the floor. The deadly sharp knife pressed against Luis's throat as Jack glared death down at him. A smirk crept across the American's face as both men stared down at the Red9. In a quick effort, Jack stepped hard on the gun with his combat boot and broke it into several pieces. He then let his eyes meet Luis's deep brown orbs. He chuckled," Looks like you're defenseless. Not like that gun would have done a thing towards me. I may be a 'lackey,' but I hold more power than you could dream of! If that old creep wants that sad excuse for a girl to become another ass-kissing Ganado, then let it be. There's nothing more fun than figuring out what his _real_ plan with the girl is then killing her right as they begin. Hahaha!"

Luis cursed inwardly at his destroyed gun. That weapon didn't come cheap and now he truly was without any means to protect himself. Though his heart was hammering inside his chest, he kept his cool demeanor. If he let Jack know he was frightened, that would mean the man would've won. He risked swallowing as he stared up at Jack, allowing a nonchalant tone in his voice," I wouldn't expect anything less than that from you. It seems the bigger they are, the more they're compensating for things. You come in with this gung-ho attitude, weapons galore, but not a brain to back it up! You find it a good idea to kill people before getting the necessary information from them. You were America's finest Marine, huh? Looks like the standards have dropped phenomenally."

Jack's face was turning red at the insult as he slammed Luis into the wall once more, reveling as the man gave a groan of agony. He despised the Spaniard more now than ever as he let his knife tickle Luis's throat. A sneer formed on his lips as he drew closer, fury lining his face. _Just a little longer before I can get rid of this jackass, too,_ the American thought. His voice was laced with poison," You keep your damn mouth shut! You don't have access to those precious pills anymore and I can make sure as hell you won't get the ingredients, either. I'm just taking my time before I get word to blow this little Hell on Earth sky high! If I happen to see you with any of these pills, I will kill you!"

Luis couldn't stop the sweat that trickled down his face. There was no doubt about it that Jack would keep his promise. What Luis truly feared was Lenore not getting the pills. The last thing in the world he wanted to see was the girl turn into yet another parasite-infected being that lived to serve Saddler. That thought made him feel sick. Jack shoved at Luis once more before letting him go and sheathing the knife. The Spaniard took no time in rushing past the crazed ex-soldier to make it back to the labs. He got a tickling in the back of his brain that told him he had at least one more bottle of growth suppressor hidden somewhere. The lab he entered was a little larger than the last one and housed cryogenically frozen Las Plagas experiments that had been dangerously successful. The last place he remembered seeing the bottle was in a drawer he had specifically locked. Tearing drawers open and rummaging through file cabinets proved fruitless. Drawer after drawer he searched, scattering notes and memos in the search for the bottle.

Frustrated, Luis left the room to find Jack standing outside the door, arms crossed over chest and a pissed look on his face. The American's instincts were right that the researcher wouldn't pay attention to the warnings. It took a swift right jab to the lean man's jaw to knock him out. Jack easily flung Luis over his shoulder to find a suitable place to lock the traitor in long enough to get the assimilation with Lenore to Los Illuminados complete. The muscle-bound man found an abandoned room and carelessly flung Luis on top of a stack of cardboard boxes that housed old files and various X-Ray prints. Wiping his hands off, Jack stepped outside of the room and locked the door, punching the cardkey reader in so that Luis would have no means of escaping. Jack gave a long sigh as he strode away," Wesker better pay me well for this."

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_A/N- I hope I kept Luis and __Krauser__ in character. Those are two characters that I find hard to get into their minds. I do hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I've got plans for the next chapter so stay tuned!_


	13. My Plague

_A/N-You know what I hate? __The flu.__Argh__, I've got it right after I had gotten rid of it last week. So here I am, too sick to do my homework but well enough to write another chapter. Go figure. Anyhow, while my homework slowly starts piling up I'm going to write more on this chapter. I've put off updating it long enough and I feel quite creative today. I hope you all have been enjoying my story so far. It's not like regular self-insertions. I wanted it be something thoroughly unique and a breath of fresh air._

_Resident Evil © Capcom_

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My Plague

_"Morir es vivir.__Morir es vivir."_

_The haunting chant lit up the large room. Candles lined the perimeter and the wax dripped off the wall sconces onto the stone floor far below. A raised altar had been settled on the second floor of the massive room while a massive pulsating plant-like Plaga took up half the wall, tendrils occasionally bursting out from the "petals" of the plant, viscous liquid, thick and slimy, dropped onto the person chained to the altar. A shriek of absolute horror came from the__ girl shackled on the altar. __The person in question was Lenore, frightened out of her wits at the ritual she was the center of! Her heart was hammering and she could feel bile rising at the back of her throat. The foreboding priest Saddler, royal purple hood hanging halfway down his face and shielding his white eyes from sight, hovered over her, his black-nailed hand held above Lenore's forehead._

_The cultists, clad in red and black habits, some with ox skulls, stood behind their leader. The chant had reached a fevered pitch as __Saddler's parasite-enhanced staff twitched and flailed its small tentacles. The bloodshot eye stared sightlessly ahead, blinking once every minute. __Though the eyes of the cult leader went unseen, the twisted smile on his face was apparent.__ He hovered his hand over Lenore, his prayers were different than the monk's chanting behind him and seemed to be causing the American woman a lot of pain as she squirmed and wailed in the middle of the altar. He broke the string of prayers long enough to acknowledge the ninth castellan in English," After this ritual, you will be one of us! You shall finally fulfill your family's duties in protecting Las Plagas. __I will teach you everything you need to know, Lenore!"_

_Another ear-splitting shriek escaped the girl's mouth as she struggled to sit up, the shackles on her wrists and ankles digging into her skin. She winced in pain and squirmed to get away from the vulnerable position she was in. She had been dressed in a white ritual robe that was a few sizes too big for her petite body. A Los Illuminados insignia had been stitched onto the right breast in red thread while ornate spiral patterns decorated the bottom of the robe. She let out a whine," I-I'm not interested! I just want to go home! Let me go home!"_

_Saddler gave a chuckle," This is your home now. Soon you will forget about ever living in that headstrong country of America." _

_Lenore was about ready to beg again when she felt slimy tentacles wrap around her waist. The leader pulled out a black key and unlocked each shackle just __as more thick tentacles grabbed each arm and each leg, a few more slithering around the waist. A scream hung in the large room as her body got pulled off the altar. Her blue eyes surveyed the sadistic cult as they stared up at her. Saddler gave a small wave, a smirk lining his face. Lenore cried out as the Queen Plagas drew her in," No! __Noo__!! Help me! Hel-" _

_And then it faded to black…_

Lenore sat straight up in her bed, sweat trickling down her face as she was greeted with darkness. A purple curtain had been drawn around her four poster bed, shielding her from even discovering what room she was in. She gave out a long sigh, wiping the sweat off her face," A dream. It was nothing more than a horrible nightmare!"

With quivering hands she poked a button on her watch to see what time it was. The small face of the watch glowed, letting her see. 4:25 pm, November 14. She stared at the date in shock. November 14?! The last time she had checked the date it was on the 12. _Have I been asleep for two days?_ She thought incredulously to herself. That couldn't be right. She felt the apprehension rising again. At first Lenore thought about she might have accidentally set her clock wrong. No, she knew the watch's date was right. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about the nightmare. Was that all it was or…? Wasting no time, the diminutive woman tore the curtain back on the bed and stepped out, desperate to see what was wrong. The first thing she took notice to was how full of energy she felt. No pains from the parasite. Quickly she pulled her left hand up to her face to check to see how the nasty knife wound had healed.

"Gone?!" she couldn't help herself from thinking out loud. There was no sign whatsoever of where she had been stabbed _through_ the hand. She turned it over, checking to see if she was hallucinating. Another thing she took notice to was how white her skin had become. Lenore was naturally pale, but now her skin had a deathly pale color to it. Her heart's rate increased as she noticed her clothes. An oversized white ritual robe. "No," Lenore choked out, "No. This isn't right!"

Her eyes darted around the room for a mirror to see what was wrong with her. Lenore's search proved fruitless as she darted out of the room, shoving the door open with her shoulder to run out into the long hallway. Something was wrong, _very_ wrong and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Her footsteps were quiet on the carpeted floors as she searched for a room that bore a mirror. Each room she came upon, though ornate in detail, lacked the looking glass she so desperately was searching for. Lenore's mind was buzzing; a low whistle could be heard in her ears as she went farther down the hallway. The entire castle was a damn labyrinth, each turn and twist losing the girl even further. Slamming a door open as she shoved it open with her foot she saw what she was looking for. It was a very large gilded mirror set haphazardly in the corner of the old room. Old crates and boxes had been shoved into the room that looked as if it went unused for years. A fine film of dust lined the cabinets and boxes. A heavy suit of armor had clattered down onto the floor, the helmet looked as if it had been battered with a blunt object and the visor was broken. The details of the room weren't one of Lenore's top priorities.

Clamboring over boxes and squeezing her way between the narrow gaps, she finally made her way to the mirror. The reflection that stared back at her left her in disbelief. The blond haired, blue eyed girl from New York City was no longer reflected in the mirror as usual. The blond hair she had been so proud of was now gray, flecked with the occasional strand of silver. Her beautiful light pink skin that she took care of by washing twice a day had now an almost whitish-gray tone to it, like a corpse. Signs of age lined her face as well as dark circles under her eyes. Her plump naturally red lips now had a purplish shade to them. What struck Lenore as most frightening were her eyes. The cerulean blue that she had inherited from her mother's side of a family were now a dark yellow. Her arms hung limp by her sides as she stared back at her reflection in the mirror. She drew closer to the mirror, her weak knees making it hard to move as she touched at her face, lowering her bottom eyelid to look at the red veins that ran in her eyeball. Her eyebrows were gone completely, giving her a sinister look. Her knees finally gave out as she dropped to her rump on the floor in front of the large mirror. Saddler had won; it was as simple as that. Whether or not Lenore wanted to admit it she was now the personal property of the cult.

She grew angry as she weakly slammed a fist into the mirror, sending little hairline cracks throughout the glass. Where had Luis been during all this?! He had promised her he was going to get the pills to her and save her from a life of servitude. Her hands shaking, Lenore brought them up to her eyes as she fought off angry tears. Something should have told her it was a bad idea the minute she saw those robed monks at the airport. A sense of adventure had gotten her royally screwed! She was angry at herself, angry at Luis, and pretty much angry at anyone she could throw the blame to. Lenore took a few deep breaths and steadied herself as she stood up. She gave one last fleeting look at her horrendous image in the mirror before she left the room in silence.

The bottom of the robe dragged the ground as Lenore hung her head, gray hair obscuring her left eye as she went to search for her clothing. Like hell she was going to wear anything associated with the cult! Her mind wandered to how she had gone from getting stabbed by the traitorous American to waking up two days later. She had no memory of passing out. In fact, she had no memory of anything after that. She was itching to figure out what happened in that gap of time. A person wouldn't simply pass out with little or no warning and wake up two days later. Would they? While thinking it over, Lenore chewed on her bottom lip. Whether it was subconsciously or not, Lenore made her way back to the bedroom that held her luggage and other personal belongings. The sooner she was out of the robe the better she hoped she'd feel. She lifted her gaze, giving a yelp at what she saw. There was a man rummaging through her luggage!

"H-hey!" Lenore stammered," What do you think you're doing?!" She balled up both her fists, drawing cautiously closer. A very large brown backpack was slung over the man's back and his face was hidden by the hood drawn up over his head and a ratty purple cloth pulled over his mouth and nose. About the only part of the man that wasn't hidden were his red eyes. The suspicious looking thief took no notice to the bewildered woman as she yelled at him once more," Get your filthy hands out of my clothing!"

A raspy chuckle emitted from him as he spun around, a magnum revolver that went by the name of Broken Butterfly was held firmly in his grip as he countered on Lenore. That caused her to give a squeak of fright as she quickly threw both hands high in the air to signify she was unarmed. He eyed the Castellan warily before noticing the authentic terror in her eyes and lowered the weapon," The bastard got to ye too, huh? Don't cha worry, stranguh. I was jus' checkin' ye goods to see if'n there was anything o'value. I ain't gonna harm ye. Please, call me th'Merchant."

His accent was clearly Cockney in nature, which had Lenore curious as to why he was in a Spanish village in the middle of nowhere. The Merchant didn't seem like he meant her any ill-will. Slowly Lenore lowered her hands to cross them defensively over her chest. It didn't make her feel any better that he was rummaging through her cloths to find valuables. The Merchant certainly did seem different than the cultists she had seen so many of. Lenore studied the man as she inquired," If you have that bug in your system how come you're not, y'know?"

The Merchant smiled under the purple cloth that hid his mouth from view," Not followin' Saddler around like a trained dog?" He shrugged his wide shoulders," I'm not sure t'tell ye the truth. P'raps its got somethun' t'do with free will. I have no plans t'kiss his feet any time soon either. I have a feelin' you have no intentions t'do that just like me, eh?" That was followed up with another chuckle. He kept his gaze on Lenore's yellow eyes," But I fear ye have no choice. Ah, the parasite you have is no Servant Plagas, though. Ye might have a chance t'fight him more than the Ganadoes running around in th'village."

Lenore felt like she was being scrutinized by the Merchant and brought her eyes down to stare at the white robe that hung loosely around her body. She spoke, keeping her head down at her toes," So I have a better chance of keeping my free will? I haven't been fighting off that creep's control successfully yet."

The Merchant shook his head, "No, ye're not listenin'. Every minute ye're away from him th'man has no control over ye. An' if I've been eavesdropping correctly, Saddler needs ye for more than jes' another brainwashed follower. It's yer family that has th'control over Las Plagas! Have ye noticed the ugly ol' staff he carries aroun'? The man can't naturally control the parasites like yer family has done fer centuries! Ye have th'upper hand!"

That piqued her attention as Lenore looked up at the Merchant. She put a finger to her chest," I've got control over those parasites…? How?"

The man shrugged once more," I'm not sure. I jes' know that the Salazar's sealed up Las Plagas long ago. P'raps ye can try t'do that, too. It's worth a shot, right?"

Lenore nodded her head. Her tone no longer sounded doubtful. There was an edge of confidence to it," Yes. You're right. If I can just learn how then that will cut off the creep's control to those parasites. I should be the one with absolute control then." She smiled up at the Merchant and walked past him, grabbing out her familiar black clothing. Al it would take was getting to learn a little more from that freak Saddler, playing like she was his little lap dog, and then crushing him underfoot like the bug he is. Lenore knew that would take a lot of effort, but she was willing to go the distance if it meant it would free her from the man's cold grasp. A nervous thought hit her, however, that she'd have to work under a ticking clock. The longer she had Las Plagas in her, the stronger Saddler's influence over her would grow. She allowed herself a smirk as she left the Merchant in the room. He was the one that had inspired her to truly go through with the act, so she would have to give him something valuable. Hell, the entire castle was filled with riches so that would be easy.

She gripped the clothes tight to her chest, her head held up a little higher. There was a swagger in her step and a sense of purpose. If her family had stopped Los Illuminados long ago, she'd do them proud and stop it once more. It was just coming up with the right time to act and going through with it. Lenore knew she couldn't act alone and her mind travelled to Luis Sera. He had been with her since the beginning and his goal was the same as hers. "Find Luis and get the ball rolling. I'll do it, I will," Lenore assured herself, disappearing into a small bathroom to get back into clothes she felt comfortable in. She narrowed her eyes," I'll destroy that cult and return home. I'll never go out of Manhattan again!"

* * *

_A/N- It took me the better part of the day to write this one chapter. I've been sick as a dog and went through a box of tissues. Ugh, I feel like crap but writing this chapter took my mind off the suffering I'm going through. I'm hopped up on cold medicine and __not completely coherent. I wanted to introduce the Merchant. When I started writing this story in October, I knew I was going to introduce him! Anyways…we have finally reached the middle of the story. Things are going down! And I quote Peggy Hill, "Ho yea!"_


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